


A Chance Encounter

by Lachesissora



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Angst, Arkham, Back to the past, Background Eva, Dadgil, Eva - Freeform, Gen, Graphic Description of Corpses, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kid!Vergil - Freeform, Nell Goldstein - Freeform, Nero's Mother - Freeform, i might have overdone it but i tag it just in case, kid!Vergil needs all the love he can get, theres fluff too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:28:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25264621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lachesissora/pseuds/Lachesissora
Summary: Vergil thought he was alone, that he was abandoned by his family. But when he was saved by a stranger whose hair as white as him,  Vergil thought that maybe he wasn't all alone in the first place.Sometimes it takes a bit of a miracle to save a broken soul, or a leap in time to reach out to one who needs salvation
Relationships: Nero & Vergil (Devil May Cry)
Comments: 150
Kudos: 355





	1. Snow in Summer

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a random thought at twitter, I present you this!
> 
> Special thanks to Vane for fueling my mind with the ideas a month ago. It was supposed to be for dadgil week 2020 but I was a bit occupied.... Well here we are.
> 
> Also, shout out to K and the Discord Gang for the help given. Plus, Cheese for helping me out escape the summary hell. You guys are the best!

_Run,_

_Do not stop._

_Run,_

_Do not turn back._

_Just run._

_Do not look back._

_Not even a peek_

_Run_

_You have to run,_

_You have to live._

_Run, my dear._

_Run for your life._

* * *

The sound of two small steps hurriedly navigating the alley echoed throughout the rainy night. The boy, whose arms clenched tightly on the sword twice his size, glanced behind his back. 

They were close.

They were coming for him.

He forced his legs to keep on running, ignoring the pain of his muscles straining, of his bleeding toes from the blisters of days of running non stop. His shoes were broken; the soles had torn apart, leaving few holes in it. At this point, it was probably better for him to just get rid of his shoes, letting his swollen feet free from the confines of it. But doing so was a luxury that he could never afford. 

Not when a pack of demons was on his tail for the past few days.

Eyes frantically looking to his front and back, the little boy ran as fast as his tired body could muster. As the rain fell harder and turned into a downpour, the road of the dark alley became flooded with water, gushing down from the roofs of the shops, leaking everywhere from the drain, causing the road to be slippery. 

And with his torn shoes no longer acting as a barrier, the young boy slumped forward, hitting his chin on the flooded asphalt.

The boy coughs hard from inhaling the water through his nose. He tried to get up, to keep on running, but his body suddenly felt so heavy as if there was a boulder pinning him to the ground. The shock from forcing himself to run for days with no sleep and any means of nutrition finally caused his body to give in. 

“Mother” The boy rolled over on the flooded path, letting the rain drop on his face as he gazed blindly to the dark sky. “... Mother,” He repeated. His grip on the sword turned his knuckles white. “...Dante” 

The little boy’s eyes felt heavier, unable to keep it open as the beat of the rain almost lulled him to sleep. His body felt numb after a while and his stomach no longer felt painful from hunger. He watched the rain fall from the sky as his mind went elsewhere. It had been raining for days after that incident and he wondered why it didn't rain on that day? 

***

It was sunny on that day. The sky was clear and the heat was tolerable. The summer breeze was perfect for one or two activities outside. Well, that was what his brother had said to him when he brought their practice swords to the living room, shoving it to his face.

But the boy didn’t want to play. He wanted to read. To find some tranquility in this lovely weather. But Dante wouldn’t have it. Of course, he wouldn't. Not when the weather was perfect and he acted like a giant ball of energy ready to burst anytime. When this happened, everyone must heed to his little brother's ridiculous demand. 

And that day, Vergil was very much had enough with Dante’s childish demand.

If only Vergil had played with his brother instead of sprinting outside to the park further away from home, he would have been there with Dante and his mother when the ashes turned to snow, dropping to the ground from the sky. 

When little Vergil arrived at the burning flames of their home, he was covered with blood: mix of his and demons alike. The Yamato was perfectly in his arms. He didn't recall what happened when the demons ambushed him at the park. He was startled when he saw some snow-like flakes fell to the ground that he didn't even realise the sinisters lurking in the shadow behind him. Then his nose picked up the pungent smell of something burning. And when he realised that his neighbourhood was on fire, Vergil found himself surrounded by demons. . 

All he remembered after he tried to escape was a demon with arms like a pair of scythes, piercing him right through his beating heart. And for once, Vergil thought he was about to die and fear crept through his body.

He did not want to die. Not now. Not then. 

He needed to get to his mother, to get to Dante.

He needed to be with them.

He needed to apologise to Dante.

_He can’t die now!_

What happened next was a blur for Vergil: A fiery blue energy burst within him, annihilating the whole demons at the park. And when Vergil was snapped from his frenzy, Yamato was in his hand. She was not in her sheath. Vergil stared at her blade. Her bloodied blade shone brighter than anything Vergil had seen and as he brought the sword for inspection, Yamato showed him his reflection: Bloodied and disheveled.

One of the roofs of his home came crashing down right next to him, snapping Vergil out of the memory still fresh in his mind. Vergil's heart stopped at the state of his home. Broken and burnt beyond repair. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Vergil called out for his brother, for his mother as he braced himself into his crumbling home. The flames had simmered down and only ashes had remained, falling from the sky like a snow in the summer. 

“Mother! Dante!” He shouted, limping from the kitchen to the hallway that led to the living room. Vergil hoped nothing had happened to them both. Their front house was destroyed by the fire and also from the demon. He wished that his mother and Dante had managed to run to safety, or maybe they were currently in hiding. He knew his mother was a capable fighter and a witch, surely she could do her magic and escape the attack.

“Dante! Mother-” 

Vergil froze when he entered the living room. His grip on the Yamato loosen as he saw scatter of crimson petals everywhere. The Yamato dropped to the floor with a loud ‘clang’, but Vergil didn’t hear it. The world suddenly turned quiet. His ears were ringing in silence.

And Vergil screamed.

He dropped to his knees, tears flowing down in a rush torrent. His haunting cries filled in the silence of his home as he weeps for the figure in front of him.

His mother, at the centre of the crimson pool. Unmoving. Her hands and legs splayed awkwardly. And her chest was cut open, revealing crushing bones underneath.

Vergil cried next to his mother’s body. He tried to shake his mother to wake up, but she didn’t stir at all. Her eyes remained _forever_ shut. Vergil tried to find for her pulse, but nothing. “Mother…” He tried again. Nothing. He searched for her beating heart next but there was nothing in there. Her heart was _missing._

Then it dawned on him, as he watched his hands covered in his mother’s blood, that his beloved mother was no longer here to protect him from this cruel and ruthless world.

He cried again, screaming for his mother at the top of his lungs until his voice was hoarse and his throat sore. Soon, the crying turned to hiccups and sniffles. Vergil then cried in silence.

With his mother gone, Vergil was all alone now. First his father, then his mother? Why must the world punish them so when they were just a happy family? Why must they take away the only person that he loved so much in this world? It was unfair, cruel even to let the child fend for themselves. So, why? Without their mother to love and to care for them anymore. They-

 _Dante._ He realised, eyes scanning everywhere. _Dante…_

He wiped his tears with his blood stained hands and stood.

“Dante!” He screamed. “Dante! Where are you, Dante!?” 

He grabbed Yamato and turned away from the scene. He cried his little brother’s name again, searching every corner in the room in his house. For each door he opened, he expected to see Dante wrapping himself in his favourite red blanket. But to Vergil’s disappointment, his brother was nowhere to be found.

When Vergil entered their shared room, he realised that Rebellion wasn’t there in his brother’s keep. And that was when he realised that Dante was no longer here. 

Dante had left him.

 _No, Dante must have run for safety._ He mentally scolded himself. _Mother might have sent him somewhere safe. Yes that must be it. His sword is gone so it must be with him. He is still alive. He must have. He must be alive._

Left alone with his thoughts, Vergil decided to wait for Dante. Part of him believed that his brother would be coming back home for him. His only fear was that his little brother would think of him to be dead and decided not to search for him anymore. 

No, Dante would never do that! He would keep on searching for him, dead or alive. 

_He would, would he not?_

Pushing those thoughts away, Vergil moved to his side of their room and took Yamato’s sheath. He was about to find something that he could salvage from the fire when he saw his poetry book on the floor, untouched by the flames. Quickly, he grabbed the book. The V’s marking was still perfect as it was, and when Vergil sat down to open a page, he sensed a vibration coming from Yamato.

 _Danger_. It flashed to his mind. Yamato was telling him something and her humming started to get louder. 

_Run._

Vergil stood still. For a moment, he didn’t know what to do. He wanted to stay and wait for Dante to come back. But the demons were approaching and he had no energy in him left to fight. Yamato was buzzing in his mind, urging him to leave. The demons were close. He needed to move now!.

Gritting his teeth, Vergil bolted out from his room, went downstairs and headed straight to the kitchen for the back door. He ran past the living room, refusing to even glance at what was inside. Vergil knew if he chanced a glance even for a little bit, he would never bring himself to leave and would have stayed there in his grief next to his mother’s corpse. He mentally promised to his mother and himself that he would come back home again and gave his mother a proper burial. 

But now was not the right time.

The demons were closing in and if he wanted to stay alive, he needed to leave. 

He needed to stay alive!

***

Groaning in pain, Vergil pushed himself up. All of his muscles were screaming from the movements but Vergil gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand. He used Yamato for support when he tried to walk again, slowly at first and then his steps quickened. 

_Must run. Must not stay here. I can’t stay here. I must-_

Vergil slipped again and fell on his knees. His knees were scratched and it burned with pain from the exposure to the cold polluted water. He swallowed his sobs, eyes determined as he tried to stand up again. 

Vergil is a son of Sparda. And as a son of the legendary knight, he must be strong. He wouldn’t let a few scratches on his knees, bruises on his feet, stop him from moving forward. He wasn’t that weak. If he couldn’t find the strength in him to push forward then he would have sullied his Father’s name. 

And ever the proud Vergil, he wouldn’t let that happen.

So with every energy he had, he forced himself to stand. And that was when Vergil heard a tapping sound on the ground. His blood freezed, he realised that the demon that chased him for days was now right behind him.

Adrenaline rushed in and Vergil pushed himself to run. But the demon was quicker, spitting up a white thread of silk on Vergil’s left arm, yanking him back to the demon. Vergil struggled to release himself, he unsheathed the Yamato and sloppily cut through the silken thread. 

The demon, which looked very much like a spider with a human body as Vergil finally managed to give them a look, was hissing at him when Vergil ran and turned to the left corner. Unbeknownst to Vergil, the demon pull a delighted smirk.

As Vergil had run himself straight into their trap.

It was a dead end. Vergil scanned the area and turned around to plot for his escape- 

“Where are you trying to run, little one?” The demoness voice was so eerily calming, it sounded sweet and full of longing. Vergil felt like he was drawn by the softness of the voice and he took a step forward before he jumped back, realising in his horror that the Demoness was trying to hypnotise him.

“Don’t you dare come closer!” Vergil masked his nervousness by pointing out Yamato’s blade to the demon. 

The demon eyes look at the sword and then back to Vergil. She gave out a chuckle. “You think you can defeat me with that stick of yours? Foolish child, you don’t even know how to wield its power. As expected from a weak human spawn. Your kind sullied our blood. I’ll make sure I make dinner out of you for my offspring!” 

The demoness raised it many, many legs to reveal hundreds of small bubbles under her stomach. The inside were twitching, indicating that there were larvaes and the bubbles were all actually eggs. She slammed forward, making Vergil's back hit on the wall. He dodge the upcoming slashed and then drew the Yamato to attack. But the demoness spider was far too fast and far too powerful than Vergil could admit. She kept on with her onslaught of attack and Vergil had kept on dodging, and defending himself, draining even more energy out of his small body. His body hit on a wall again and every part of his body was in pain. He couldn’t stand straight, let alone fight that demonese Spider who was just a meter away from him, blocking his path to run. 

“You can’t run now rotten child!” The demon slashed it claws down and Vergil braced himself for the impact-

BANG!

A loud gunshot was heard and Vergil opened his eyes. 

The demoness was no longer paying attention to him as it was occupied with something…. Or someone. Then, Vergil heard a rev of an engine blaring through the sound of the rain, and saw a burst of flames, cleaving the demoness into half. 

The demoness screeched into the void and it crumbled to dust.

The stranger’s back was in front of him and Vergi saw the man hooked his sword - Is that a motorcycle’s handle? - to his back. Vergil tried to look at the person in front of him but the heavy downpour made it harder for him to see properly. And he was pretty sure that the right arm of that stranger appeared to be mechanical, like a robot arm.

Yamato’s blade started to glow a shade of blue causing the little boy to jumo. But as seconds went by, Vergil realised that the glow was not a warning, but a recognition.

The stranger turned around and walked closer to him. Vergil suddenly sensed a familiar demonic aura coming from that man. It was the same aura he sensed on both his Father and Dante. 

And for the first time ever since the fire, it made him feel _safe_.

“Father…?” 

Vergil stood still, _hoping_ , eyes locked on the stranger _No, It’s not Father._ He thought to himself, feeling a bit dejected. 

But when the stranger stepped into the light, making his appearance became clearer in the dark rainy night, Vergil realised that the stranger had _snowy white hair_ ,

Just like _him_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title based on Nier OST - [Snow In Summer](https://youtu.be/t6kXb0NL1PE)  
> (I had the track played on repeat during the first drafting of this chapter)


	2. The White Hair Stranger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vergil wonders, who is the kind stranger. Is he an enemy? or a friend?

It was hard to see in this downpour, especially when the surrounding area was dark. The only light available was from that rundown lamp post, which only gave a dull illumination. But that was enough for Vergil to see the stranger in front of him. As the stranger turned and walked towards him, Vergil could see the detail of the man’s right arm. It looked like one of those robotic arms from that morning weekend cartoon that he used to watch with Dante. But this one looked way cooler than the cartoon ones. If only Vergil wasn’t so on edge, he would have run to the stranger (in a polite manner) and bombarded him with questions like any 8 years old would.

No, that would be a foolish and dangerous thing to do. Vergil didn’t know who the stranger was. Was he an enemy? A strong demon disguised as someone related to Sparda in order to lure him by giving him a false sense of security? Or one of those bad humans which his mother always reminded them to be aware of? Vergil didn’t know which was worse but one thing for sure, as the man got closer to him, he should have run.

But why couldn’t he move his legs?

Clutching to the Yamato for his dear life, Vergil waited for the stranger to strike him. But as the moment passed, the man didn’t do anything but strutted towards him carefully, as if knowing that one wrong move and Vergil would run. The man stopped right in front of him and Vergil observed his left arm which was normal than the right arm, waiting for him to take that weird sword at his back or the gun in his belt. Anything to prove to the Yamato that the man in front of him was a threat and not an ally.

“Hey, you okay there kid?” Vergil blinked. The man’s voice sounded so friendly, nice and somewhat comforting.

No, this must be a trick by those demons. The familiar scent, that friendly tune? They just wanted Vergil to lower his guard down. And when he did, they would attack him, shred him to pieces, torture him. Anything to fuel their twisted demonic humour while calling him weak and powerless human.

The man crouched down until he was on the same eye level with Vergil, looking all over Vergil’s body before going back to his eyes. “Are you hurt? Did the demon hurt you?” The stranger kept on with his questions while Vergil’s mouth remained shut, eyes narrow searching for any cracks in that man’s mask.

The man seemed to notice it but he just gave a small smile and brushed it off. He searched inside his pocket jacket and took out some kind of a plastic wrap. Vergil’s eyes moved to the wrapping and noticed that it was a bread.

“Are you hungry? I have bread with me if you want some. Here.” The man handed Vergil the bread. Vergil just stared at the wrapping. How many days had it been since he last ate something, let alone fresh bread? He had been on the run for weeks, he had no time to eat. The only chance he got was when he was rummaging through the trash can at the back alley behind the diner. He had found some half eaten burger that appeared to be edible amongst other leftover food in the trash. Oh boy, he was wrong. His stomach hurt so bad for the whole day, that he couldn’t even muster the energy to walk.

The man was surprisingly patient. He waited for Vergil to take the bread, didn’t even show any signs of irritation when Vergil was scrutinizing the bread as if it was some sort of poison. In fact, he had that gentle expression on him as if he knew Vergil would do that.

And then a loud rumbling sound broke the silence of the night. The two of them stared at each other before the man’s eyes fell on Vergil’s stomach.

“Guess you really are hungry.” The man chuckled a bit and why did the sound bring so much warmth in him? “Come on, just take the bread. You need it more than I do-” He paused and looked at the Katana that Vergil held. “You can put Yamato down though. It’s okay, you’re safe now.”

Vergil snapped his gaze to the man. “You know Yamato?”

“Ermm…” The man rubbed his neck with his free arm, “I used to know the owner of the sword-”

“You knew my dad?!” Suddenly all of the tension between them shattered like a glass. Vergil jumped forward to the man, eyes wide with interest at the mere thoughts of meeting someone who knew his missing Father.

The man scratched his nose, looking a bit sheepish. “Kinda..”

Vergil eyes sparkled and was about to ask more before both of them sensed something approaching. The man turned around as he stood up, hand ready at his gun.

“We can’t stay here. Those bastards are still around.” He scanned the entire area before his gaze landed back on Vergil, “You’re good for a run?”

Vergil looked down to his shoes and the stranger did too, noting the ragged state of his shoes. “Okay, that’s not good. We have to find you a new pair after this.” The stranger crouched again, this time with his back on Vergil “Your legs still hurt from running right? Come on, I’ll carry you until we find someplace safer.”

Vergil snapped his gaze to the corner and back to the stranger. The man was right, he couldn’t outrun the demon in his tired state like this. His legs were still hurting even though some of the cuts and bruises were already healed. Knowing he had left with no option, he climbed onto the man awaiting back, wrapping his arms around the man’s neck. The man then gave him a gentle squeeze to his claves, “Hold on tight.”

* * *

They ran for quite a distance to lose the demons behind their track. Vergil got a chance to observe the man using his robotic arm when the demon was nearing them. The arm blasted out an electric current that made those demons flew a few feets away from them and caused those demons to stagger, giving them more time to run. The man also used his gun to give them the final blow. It was loud, the way the man used his weapons. Yamato didn't make a sound when Vergil used her. She was quiet with her strike but these weapons the man had were very loud and destructive, Dante would have liked to see those weapons in action if he were here.

The rain had finally stopped pouring when they arrived at their destination: A small house at the outskirts of the town. The man put Vergil down carefully and proceeded to shuffle through his jacket to search for a key. Once he found it, he unlocked the door and invited Vergil to come inside.

The inside of the house was simple. There was only a dining table in the middle, and a corridor that led to a single bedroom and bathroom. The living room shared the same space with the kitchen area. It was small and packed but much better than the streets he had to sleep on for weeks.

But still, Vergil couldn’t just let his guard down yet. He still didn’t know who the man was. They shared the same white hair and the man’s aura felt so similar to his father and dante. Were they actually related or this was just a mind trick. But the man had been so kind to him and Yamato seemed to like the man and didn’t see him as a threat at all. Plus, the man knew his father! They could be an acquaintance or maybe family?

Maybe living on the run with his guard up for weeks had caused Vergil to be so skeptical of everything and everyone that showed him kindness.

“We’re safe here.” The stranger said as he took off his jacket and hung it to one of the chairs. “This place isn't that much but there’s a bathtub in the bathroom with a hot shower, and I bet it’s been awhile since you last got ‘em. So why don’t you take a bath while I cook something for you?”

“Erm Mr..” Vergil called out to him, making the man stop in his tracks to the kitchen.

“Yes, do you need anything?”

“Do you know where my father is?” Vergil asked after a moment of contemplation.

The man’s eyes were downcast for a moment and he kinda tried to look at everywhere before his gaze landed on Vergil. “I’m sorry, kid... I don’t know.”

There was a sudden pang to Vergil’s heart when the man said that. It wasn’t that Vergil didn’t expect that answer. Nobody knew where his father had gone to. But deep down he was hoping that the man would know about his father's whereabouts. Sensing the sour mood from Vergil, the man ruffled Vergil’s hair, causing the boy’s brows to scrunched up in annoyance. “Hey, let’s go get you a shower okay. After that, let’s eat.”

He brought Vergil to the bathroom and filled up the tub with warm water. Once done he turned around and had to stifle his laughter from watching the way Vergil clutched to Yamato. “You can leave the Yamato to me. I can take care of her. Trust me.”

The man held up his hand, waiting patiently for Vergil to let go of the sword. But Vergil was adamant from letting it go. Could Vergil trust this man with Yamato? That sword was the only thing left of his father before his sudden disappearance a year ago. His father made it clear that he needed to take care of the sword and not let her fall to the wrong hands. Most of those demons that hunted him for weeks wanted him and the sword. He didn’t know why maybe because Yamato has her own special power that could make its wielder become invincible - because that was what Vergil felt when he first used her. Her power unlocked the hidden strength within him. And what if that's the reason why the man had asked him for her.

“Don’t worry. I won't run off with your sword. Yamato will definitely not like that” He said and Yamato hummed in agreement. “I promise after you are done with your shower, I will give her back to you immediately. I won’t do anything to her, trust me.”

Slowly, Vergil’s grip on Yamato loosened. Yamato seemed to try to ease his worry by humming some soothing tune in his head and it worked a bit. The man carefully took Yamato from him and then moved to the door.

“Don’t worry okay. I’ll take care of her. You go and take your time in the shower.” And with that, the man closed the bathroom door as he walked out to the kitchen.

It felt weird not having Yamato by his side. His right arm was aching to reach for her saya. But what the man had said was true, Vergil really needed a shower. He watched himself in the mirror for the first time in weeks and he looked very much dead. His eyes were covered with eyebags, his hair was caked with mud and blood, and his clothes were tattered. There was no way he could wear the clothes back!

Careful not to hurt himself, Vergil took off his clothes and dipped himself into the tub. The water was warm and it took only a moment for Vergil to feel relaxed. His muscles started to feel at ease and for the first time since that tragedy, Vergil felt safe.

Vergil eyes fluttered open when he smelled something delicious coming from outside of the bathroom. Apparently he had dozed off in the tub. The warm water and his fatigue must have caused him to finally take a nap. He washed himself with soap and let the water wash out the mud and blood from his body. Once done, he took the towel that was prepared for him by that stranger.

When he stepped out from the bathroom, Vergil was surprised that there were spare clothes prepared for him on the bed and it was the same size as him. When did the stranger go out to buy spare clothes for him? It was almost midnight when they arrived here and most shops closed before 6pm. That man couldn’t possibly be expecting to find him, was he? Vergil thought to himself but then the aroma from the kitchen was so delectable that it distracted him from thinking further.

Quickly, he wore the clothes prepared and walked out from the room. When he arrived at the dining table, the man was scooping what seemed to look like a soup and served it on the table.

“Hey, how’s the bath? Good?” The man said as he took another scoop of the soup into his bowl. Vergil just nodded and walked to the table. He noticed that the Yamato was placed next to the chair and Vergil immediately took it in his arms as if his life depended on her.

“See, I told you that I’m going to take good care of her.” The man approached the table with the bowl in his arm. Apparently his robotic right arm was gone and replaced with normal human looking ones. Maybe that robotic arm was a gauntlet? “Come here, have a seat. You must be starving, right? I hope you like chicken soup because that’s the only ingredient that I could find right now. I wish I could make some pasta but I don't have enough ingredients to make the sauce, plus the shop is closed. Maybe, we can have pasta for lunch tomorrow, how about that?”

Vergil nodded at the man's suggestion as he took his seat. The chicken soup smelled so inviting and Vergil’s mouth watered from looking at the soup. He took the spoon and digged in, savouring the taste of the chicken in the soup. It reminded Vergil of the soup his mother always made for him and Dante when they were down with a flu. He felt as if he was back at his home. And as he ate the soup in silence, Vergil realised that he would never get to taste his mother’s cooking anymore.

It was a humble delicious meal and Vergil shyly asked for a second serving, which the man happily obliged and gave him a huge scoop of the soup. Vergil ate it up, replenishing his body with food to make up for the lost energy and days of starving. Once done, Vergil felt so recharged, full of energy, and his mood seemed to be a little bit better

“Was it good?” The man asked.

“It was. Thank you” Vergil politely answered.

The man smiled and said “Don’t mention it. I'm glad that you like it, kid.”

“Vergil...” The man raised his eyebrows. “My name is Vergil. Emm… thank you again for saving me and giving me food.” Vergil's hand reached Yamato's saya for comfort. “...And for taking care of Yamato for me.” She’s the only thing I have.

“It’s nothing to be thanked about. I’m here to help you, Vergil.” There was something in the way the man said his name. It’s soft and yet filled with longing. It was as if the man in front of him had known him before. But this was their first time meeting… or was it not?

Fingers playing with Yamato’s ribbon, Vergil took a breath and asked: “Erm, may I know who you are, Mister…?”

“It’s Nero.” The man, Nero, answered as he smiled. “I’m sorry for not introducing myself earlier. That was rude of me. Well, I’m Nero and I’m… somehow related to your dad, Sparda.”


	3. Tidal Waves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes an intrusive thought can be dangerous to someone whose emotion is like a rocking boat on a stormy sea.

_Soft._

Vergil hand ran over the soft sheets of the bed. Nero had told him that he should take the bedroom during his stay here, saying that Vergil needed it more than him and he could take the sofa instead. Of course, being the good child he was, Vergil initially refused, saying that he shouldn’t take advantage of a stranger’s kindness. However, Nero insisted that Vergil sleep on the bed tonight, telling him that he deserved to rest somewhere comfortable and relax for the night

Nero was not wrong though as he had a valid point looking at the faded bruises on Vergil’s body. And Vergil missed the feeling of sleeping on a soft bed, where the muscle of his back would no longer feel so stiff and in pain after weeks of sleeping on a cold harsh ground. So, in the end Vergil agreed much to Nero’s relief and he bid Vergil good night.

 _Relatives, huh_?

If what Nero said back in the kitchen was true then the two of them must be a family- distant relatives to be exact like cousins. All this while, Vergil thought his family was just him, his brother and his parents. It never occurred to him that his family could be bigger than that. Mother did say she has a family somewhere in the north but she hardly saw them anymore, telling him that it was not something that they should be concerned about. Meanwhile, his father never told him anything about himself, whether he had siblings or not, and he and Dante never bothered to ask.

_“When you said ‘related’, is it like a family? Are you and my father a family, Mister Nero?” Vergil asked once Nero had done washing the dishes. Nero wiped his hands on a clean towel before he took his seat across Vergil_

_“Nero. Just call me ‘Nero’. No need to call me ‘mister’.” Nero wiped his nose, looking rather sheepish. “Well, you can say it like that. We’re a family, yes- like a distant relative… or something. You might not know about this because I’m from somewhere far away from here. Have you heard of an island called Fortuna?” Vergil shook his head. “I’m from there.”_

_“Is the island nice?”_

_“It is! It has beautiful beaches and the water is nice for a swim during the summer. Fortuna is kinda like a historic city, not as busy as here in the mainland. It’s rather relaxing and calming even though we’re a bit strict with our rules but I won't talk much about that. Emm, maybe you could visit Fortuna someday when you’re older, how about that?” There was something hopeful in Nero’s eyes when he suggested that. It was as if he really wanted Vergil to go there someday._

_Vergil never heard about Fortuna before as this was his first time hearing the island name. Not only that, he didn’t even know that his father had a family there or even mentioned anything about the island and Nero. If they were family then of course his father would want them to meet right?_

_“We never heard father talk about Fortuna before. He also never told us that he still has a family....” Vergil said quietly more to himself._

_“Ah, that-” Nero rubbed his hand on his neck. “Your dad doesn’t know about me though. We never get the chance to meet.”_

_“Why’s that?” Vergil tilted his head. It was clear to Vergil that Nero was a bit hesitant to answer that with the way his eyes darted everywhere in the room, searching for a way to answer that. Then something flashed through his mind, could Nero be?- “Are you my older bro-”_

_“No! No, that’s not it. I’m not your-” Nero spluttered in his words as he tried so hard not to laugh. “Pardon me, but it’s not like what you think. I’m sorry I should have clarified it further: Yes, I’m related to Sparda but it’s not like that.”_

_“Not like that..?” Vergil brows knitted together in confusion. So Nero was related to them but he wasn’t his older brother, so a cousin then? Okay that made sense. Vergil may be a kid but he knew his father best. His father was clumsy, a dork and could be a bit weird when it came to normal human convention of things but he wasn’t the kind of a person that would mess around like that._

_The clock chimed as it striked 2 in the morning, causing Nero to stand up and quickly change the subject. “Oh shoot, it’s late already?! You should go to bed and rest. We can continue this tomorrow, promise!.”_

* * *

Sleep eluded him as he tried to close his eyes again. He had been doing this for half an hour now. Vergil was sleepy and he very much wanted to rest for the night but everytime he closed his eyes, he couldn’t help it but to look at his right side for Dante to crash in his bed, pulling his blanket and urging him to wake up and play that glow-in-the-dark cards.

But Dante was not there and this was not his room.

In fact, he didn’t even have a home anymore. 

Staring blankly at the ceiling, watching the fan spinning, Vergil wondered if Dante had indeed survived the attack. Based on what he saw in their shared bedroom, with Rebellion missing from the place Dante used to keep her, maybe he did manage to escape the attack. Because the only person who could unlock Rebellion’s case was Dante.

But if Dante survived then did it mean that Dante had left him? 

Vergil reached out to Yamato which was laying by the night stand, hugging her close as he remembered the fight he had with Dante on that day. His words to Dante were really harsh, mean and hurtful. He didn’t mean to say any of those words to Dante. He was just angry, annoyed that his evening reading was interrupted by Dante incessant urging to play.

But he realised that he shouldn’t blame Dante for being like that. For the past two days, Vergil had been burying his nose in the novel he borrowed from the library, ignoring his little brother's request for a spar or two. Of course Dante would act like that. He just wanted to play with his brother because he and Dante only had each other since they lived far away from the rest of the kids their age and Dante was bored and lonely for having to play all by himself.

Regardless, Dante shouldn’t have left him, right? Yes, they fought everyday over the silliest thing but they would always reconcile and acted as if nothing had happened. But what if Dante had had enough of that and the fight they had on that day was the final straw? 

What if Dante found the opportunity to cut ties with him during the demonic attack and left him?

And what about his mother? Mother didn’t even search for him when he had run off from their house. Instead, he clearly saw his mother consoling Dante when Dante cried over to her. Maybe she also had enough with all the fighting at home, tired from handling and catering to both of their whims. And compared him to Dante, Dante could easily bring her to laugh and he was more ‘likeable’ and ‘friendlier’ than Vergil like everyone said. So of course, his mother would have prioritised Dante first than searching for him-

No. No. Nononononononononono!

He shouldn’t think like that. He mustn't think like that. Stop it. Stop. No.

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fight those intrusive thoughts that were plaguing his mind. His mother loved them equally. His mother never had a preference out of the two of them. Those people knew nothing about their family. His mother had told them that even if they were different, she still loved them. 

There was no way that could be a lie.

She would not lie to them.

_Please stop. That’s not true. Please stop!_ . 

A choked sob left Vergil’s mouth and soon he fell asleep, tears flowing down his cheeks.

* * *

When Vergil woke up from his slumber, the sun had already risen from the horizon and its light shone through the curtains, blinding his sight. He turned over from the windows to adjust his eyesight. The first thing he saw when his eyesight was better was the plain white wall of the bedroom. He looked around the bedroom as he recalled the events that transpired last night. 

So everything that happened last night was not a dream. He was saved by a stranger who happened to be his far away relative. Vergil still needed time to digest the whole thing. If Nero hadn’t found him last night, he would definitely have died by the claws of that spider demon. That demon was too powerful for a tired child to fight so Vergil was thankful Nero was there.

~~_But if he were to die that night then wouldn’t all his suffering come to an end?_ ~~

A sweet, scrumptious smell filled the air causing Vergil to finally leave the comfort of his temporary bed. His small legs brought him to the dining-living room area, searching for the source of the delicious smell. There, by the stove, he found Nero flipping what seemed to look like a pancake. He quietly walked closer and Nero glanced to the back, with that radiant smile on his face. “Morning! Slept well last night?” Vergil nodded as he sat on the chair. Nero flipped the pancake again “That’s great then. Oh, I hope you like pancakes because I made a lot .”

With one last flip, Nero served the pancake on a plate before giving it to Vergil. He then scoured through the cabinet, taking out two forks and knives before he returned to his chair. 

“Oh, do you want to eat the pancakes with maple syrup or chocolate?”

“You have chocolate?” Vergil eyes sparkled.

“Yes and strawberries too. Want me to take it out?” 

“If you don’t mind then yes please.” Vergil tried to not show his excitement over the mention of chocolate but his expression betrayed him, causing Nero to chuckle a bit.

“Of course. One chocolate syrup coming right up.” With that, Nero went to the fridge and took out the chocolate syrup and strawberry. Vergil was clearly jumping in excitement (he tried to not make it too obvious) in his seat when Nero handed it to him. “Here, take as much as you like”

Vergil poured a generous amount of the chocolate syrup on his pancake before decorating it with a few slices of strawberries. He didn’t notice that Nero was quietly observing him with a fond smile on his face. Nero watched him take a couple of bite before he started to eat his pancake, choosing to eat them with maple syrup and butter.

“Thanks for the breakfast, Miste- I mean, Nero” Vergil stood up from his seat, bringing the dishes to the sink to wash. 

“Just put it there. You don’t have to wash it.”

Vergil stared back at Nero, feeling bad that for the past 12 hours Nero had been such a kind host to him. Vergil didn’t want to overstep his bound by letting Nero do all the work for him. “But-”

“It’s okay, Vergil. I don't really mind and i’m used to doing the dishes. In fact, i’ll feel very bad if I let my guest do the work here. Just leave it be.” 

With one last look at the sink, Vergil reluctantly went back to his seat and drank the fresh milk Nero had prepared. As he drank up the milk, Vergil suddenly remembered something that he had been meaning to ask Nero, so he put the glass down and tried to gain Nero’s attention.

“Can I ask you something, Nero?”

“Sure, what is it?” Nero said in between munching the pancake. 

Vergil mulled over his question, “You said you’re from Fortuna, right?” Nero nodded and hummed something that sounded like ‘yes’. “Did you come here to visit us since you said father didn’t know about you?”

Nero swallowed the food in his mouth, drinking the milk as he try to find the right answer to that question. He looked rather conflicted over something before he gave Vergil a wry smile. “Emmm… Kinda. I thought I could introduce myself to your family but…” Nero’s expression started to turn grim and Vergil could guess the reason behind that. “The house was destroyed when I arrived. I- I’m sorry. I was too late.”

The room suddenly filled with silence as Nero couldn’t find anything else to say. Vergil thought what Nero had told him over, then mustered the courage to ask: “How did you find me?”

“Your scent.” Answered Nero.

“My scent?” Vergil brows knitted together.

“How should I explain this…” Nero scratched his cheek, “Well for us descendants of Sparda, we, including you and your brother, have this ability where we can sense one another since our aura is somewhat the same. That’s why I know where to find you and I followed your scent until we met last night.”

“So you tracked my scent?” Vergil asked. 

“Yes.” 

All these times Vergil thought it was weird that he could sense his dad and Dante’s aura. He never mentioned it to his father, thinking that it's just a normal thing that people have among their family. He never knew it was an ability that he inherited from his father. “How do you… track them?”

“It’s hard to explain. Your body will just sense them and you will subconsciously follow the scent if you want to find the source. I don’t know if that explanation helps.” Nero left out a dry laugh.

Vergil brows was still knitted, “Can others do that too?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Nero's face darkened. He didn’t even have to explain further as Vergil understood the meaning behind it. 

“That’s why those demons…”

“Yes. But they can only sense you when you are in their perimeter. If you are far away from them, they can’t track you like we can for each other, so you don’t have to worry about that. But you still need to be careful because information runs faster among those demons which explains why there’s suddenly a horde of demons chasing after us” 

Vergil remembered the day he met an ant-like demon. He was traversing the back alley to keep on hiding from prying eyes when he heard a crash somewhere around the corner. Feeling curious Vergil decided to look around, only to be greeted by the screeching of that demon. Soon, the alley was filled with demons and Vergil had to use all of his strength to kill them all.

He always wondered how the demons could track them and finally he knew the answer from Nero.

“There are ways to mask our scent though.” Vergil's eyes met Nero’s curiously. “I mean there are spell or magic items that could help us or we can do it ourselves.”

“How?”

“Well that’s something that only the individual would know. It requires a lot of practice with our part. I wish I could teach you on that but I’m still struggling to do it too.” He scratched his noses again and Vergil couldn’t help but to notice that that gesture might be a nervous tick on Nero’s part. 

“So all I need to do is to practice and sharpen my senses?” 

“Exactly. And you don’t have to worry though,” Vergil tilted his head again and Nero continued, “You have Yamato to help you hone those skills”

“Yamato?”

Nero nodded. “You should know by now Yamato is special right? There are many things Yamato can teach you. And since you’re her current owner, I think she will be honoured to show you the way.”

A melodious humm passed through Vergil’s mind. Yamato was still inside the bedroom and yet she could still telepathically send messages to him. That should be enough proof for Vergil that they had already established a connection between him and the sword. He still found it hard to listen to her exact voice but Vergil understood what her message was and he too looked forward to what he could accomplish with her.

“Okay then, since we’re done with our brunch, let’s find your little brother, Dante.” Nero suggested and Vergil immediately snapped his attention back to Nero.

“Why?” Vergil eyes narrowed. “He could be dead.”

Sensing the sudden shift of demeanor from Vergil, Nero tried to phrase his words carefully as he knew there was something that was plaguing Vergil’s mind and Nero needed to make sure he didn’t trigger anything.

“Remember I said that I could track you? I managed to track Dante’s scent too and I’m pretty sure, Dante is alive” Nero kept gazes on Vergil’s stormy eyes that were swirling with emotions.

Dante is alive? Vergil's heart beat erratically at the revelation. His brother was alive and yet something was brewing in his mind. Vergil wanted to be happy with the news but there was a feeling that stopped him from feeling that happiness. With Dante’s being alive then that meant Vergil was not alone. He still had a family remaining but why couldn’t he feel happy over it? Why the thought of Dante being alive causing his blood to boil? 

Coldness filled the room and yet Vergil found himself feeling hot, his heart felt like exploding

All these while Dante was alive and he didn’t even bother to find Vergil.

“What do you mean Dante is alive?!” Vergil shouted, his breaths were ragged. 

“Vergil-”

“If Dante is alive then why didn’t he try to find me?” He shouted again. The last night thoughts suddenly crashed in like a tidal wave, drowning all of his rational thoughts as emotions running rampant. His eyes suddenly filled with water. “Dante left me! He abandoned me while I was trying to save myself! He didn’t even come back for me!”

“Vergil, I don’t think that’s the truth-” Nero tried to reach out to Vergil but Vergil was quick to recoil.

“No! You don’t know anything! Dante hates me! He left me because he hates me! He didn’t even bother to wait for me- HE LEFT ME ALL ALONE TO DIE!” 

Angry tears spilled from Vergil’s eyes as his mind recalled back to that day, hours before the incident, to the fight he had with Dante...

… and to the words that came out of Dante’s mouth.

_“I hate you, Vergil!”_

“Why do we have to find him when he abandoned me? Why?!” 

Vergil took a few steps back until his back hit the wall. His eyes were red with tears, hand clenched tightly as his mind kept on repeating Dante's words again and again until it fossilised in his brain. Vergil's heart broke from the betrayal, from the thoughts of Dante and even his mother abandoned him, leaving him defenseless. They never loved him. They never did.

Nero rushed forward, trying to calm Vergil “Hey, listen to me, Vergil. There must be a misunderstan-”

“NO!” He cried and pushed Nero away as he ran towards the door and went out of the house, slamming the door shut. He heard Nero called out for him from the house but he didn’t care. He didn’t want to stay in that house. He didn’t want to talk about Dante! 

He hated it! Hate it hate it hate it!

So Vergil kept on running, letting his legs drag him to somewhere, someplace that he could be alone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sorry :')


	4. Gentle Breeze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A kid need a guidance in order to be set on the right path, right?

_ “I hate you, Vergil!” _

Dante shouted at the top of his lungs, snot dripping from his nose as he wiped out the remaining of his tears that were still spilling from his eyes.

“I hate you!” He pushed past Vergil and he ran towards his mother who just came back to the house to check on them after she heard the arguments from her garden.

“Mom!” Vergil watched intently as Dante hugged his mother by her leg, causing the lady of the house to crouch down to meet her youngest son.

“Dante, what happened? I heard both of you screaming from outside” She patted her youngest son’s back to soothe him but her emerald eyes landed on Vergil, whose eyes were also brimmed with tears, waiting for it to spill.

“It’s Vergil!” Dante said in between hiccups and sobs. “It’s Vergil! He- he said-”

“What did Vergil say, my dear?” She kissed the top of Dante’s head, shushing him as he sobbed uncontrollably. Her gazes remained on Vergil, trying to take a look at her eldest son's expression but Vergil refused to turn to her.

Feeling that Dante’s cries would not subside soon, Eva held Dante tighter and tried to gain Vergil attention to her, “Vergil, sweetie-”

She didn’t manage to ask further, Vergil immediately bolted out of the living room. She called to him again, her voice faded in the background as Vergil took off out of the house, ignoring her calls for him. He ran as fast as his little legs could bring him, refusing to look behind.

Unbeknownst to him, that was the last time he saw Dante and his mother alive...

* * *

Vergil didn’t know how far he had run in this forest. Everything looked exactly the same that he could not pinpoint which way was the north, which way was the south. But that didn’t bother him to stop running at all. He needed to get out of the house. Everything there felt so overwhelming to the point he found himself difficult to breathe. 

_ Dante is still alive _ . The information from Nero kept on ringing in his head, making his head throb in pain. Of course, his little brother would be alive and well. He was saved by mother, she probably chose to bring Dante to safety while Vergil was struggling to stay alive in the chaos that was the ambush at the park. Did any of them know what had happened to him while they were making their escape? Certainly not. 

His footsteps slowed down as fatigue finally took over his body, and for the first time since he had run away from the small house, Vergil finally stopped and crouched down, letting himself laid by the trees. There, with his knees brought to his chest, Vergil let the tears spill and cried alone. His mind kept on replaying that fight over and over again, causing the silent cries turned to loud sobs.

Dante words echoed in his mind, causing a sharp pain to his heart. Dante hated him. His only sibling, his other half, hated him so much. Vergil didn’t know what to do with that knowledge other than feeling like his heart had been torn to pieces from the betrayal. Growing up, his brother was the only one he had other than his mom and his dad. The twins didn’t have a lot of friends since they lived far away from the people of their neighbourhood. They only went to the public park once or twice a month and they were mostly met with weird glances. But even so, some tried to approach them but most of them were bullies who thought that they could mess with either of them.

There were others who were nice to them but they were mostly friends with Dante. Vergil preferred to spend time reading when they went to the park, occasionally joining Dante to play. It wasn’t that Vergil didn’t want to join them but everytime he wanted to, those kids would make it clear that they didn’t like him. For them Vergil was too serious, too ‘mean’. They preferred Dante who was way more friendlier, kinder than Vergil could ever be. 

Sometimes Vergil couldn’t stop thinking if he weighed Dante’s down for always defending him to the kids. Vergil never expected Dante to do it since he didn’t care what others thought of him. Plus they were only there for a short while, so no point of getting so worked out about it. Yet there were times where Dante chose not to play with the kids, telling him that they were not worth it and stayed at the bench with Vergil, sometimes playing with him instead with the rest of the kids. 

Maybe that was the reason why Dante hated him.

A choked sob left his throat. Vergil never felt so alone right now. Everything hurt so much. Father, Mother, Dante… they all had abandoned him, forcing him to fend for himself all alone. What did he do for him to be left behind? He was a good child, wasn’t he? Admittedly, sometimes he could be a bit difficult to handle with his stubbornness and his covert mischievousness, but wasn’t that also the same with Dante’s robust impulsive behaviour?

Why was it of all the people he had met, all of them favour Dante over him?

Even his mother, who claimed to love them equally, chose Dante over him, saving his brother first and not him.

It’s unfair!

_ Everything is unfair! _

Pained cries filled the silence of the forest, tears after tears dropped to the ground, damping the dried grass. Vergil was so overwhelmed with grief and sadness that he didn’t notice how long he had cried. His tears had long since dried up and his throat felt dry, demanding for water. But Vergil felt so tired, he didn’t want to move at all. He just wanted everything to stop. His mind kept on spiralling with the cruel and hurtful thoughts of the knowledge that he was left to die.

So lost in his thoughts, he didn’t even hear the sound of a footstep approaching and stopped in front of him. 

“Hey.” Came the soft voice of Nero. Vergil's body tensed for a bit before he relaxed, still refusing to look up to Nero. “You okay there, buddy?” Vergil replied by pressing his head further in between his knees, as if to hide himself from the world.

“Okay, that’s a bad question. Um, do you want to talk about it?” Silence, again. Vergil didn’t know what to talk about but Nero was persistent, so he waited for a while until he tried again:

“Vergil, whatever you are thinking right now, please know that it is not true.l” 

That actually caused Vergil to stir from his position as he finally looked up to Nero. 

“Not true?” Vergil repeated

Nero nodded at that, his gazes were firm and sincere, assuring him that there’s no lies underneath those gazes. “Yes. May I sit next to you?”

At that question, Vergil blinked and turned to the empty spot on his right. “Sure”

“Thanks”. Nero moved and sat himself next to Vergil. By now, Vergil had let go of his knees. He stared at Nero who was taking out a tissue from his pocket and handed it to him, which Vergil gladly took and proceeded to blow out his nose.

A couple of blows was made before Vergil wiped his nose for any residue of his snot. Nero was surprisingly quiet, he didn’t make any comments on how silly and disgusting Vergil looked like with those puffy eyes and runny nose. With a last blow to the tissue, Vergil put it down and turned to his right as all of his swirling thoughts had halted and the only thing on his mind was the man beside him.

“Did you track my scent in order to find me?” He began after a moment of thinking. His voice was hoarse from the crying. He remembered that he ran quite far into the forest that he thought he was lost. Having someone able to find him here made Vergil felt somewhat safe.

“Eeyup. It's just like what I told you earlier: I followed your scent and let my instinct guide me. Plus, you forgot this-” Nero untied something from his waist before he brought a familiar sword to Vergil. 

_ Yamato. _

Small hands immediately reached out to the katana and when his fingers wrapped around her, Yamato let out something akin to a worried sigh and she proceeded to soothe him with her gentle glow.

“We were both worried when you sprinted out of the house, though. Yamato was practically yelling at me to find you quickly, worried that something might happen to you since you left just like that without her. Thank god, you are okay. ”

From the way Vergil was hugging Yamato for comfort, Nero realised that the boy didn’t pay much attention to his words. So he let them be, letting Yamato ease the boy’s heart. A few minutes had passed and Vergil's breathing was even and calmer than before, so Nero took the opportunity to breach the topic carefully.

“Hey, want to talk about it?”

Vergil’s body stiffened at that suggestion, his mind was racing whether he should confide his sorrow to this man who he had just met the day before. Nero had been nothing more but being so kind and patient at him, and Vergil wanted to trust this man. With a gentle assurance from Yamato, Vergil finally nodded and Nero smiled softly to that response.

It's a progress, right?

Leaves rustling from the soft blow of the wind, the surrounding forest felt so serene, accompanying the silence that fell in between. The sun’s ray was gentle and warm, brightening the forest with its soft light. Nero waited for Vergil to speak, his silence was comforting and it gave Vergil the space to find his words. Uncertainty flashed through his mind, he agreed to Nero’s offer of talking out the thing that plagued his mind, but he didn’t know where to start. 

Seeing the boy’s conflicted expression, Nero thought he should probed to help the boy out. “Say, why do you think Dante hates you?” Vergil gripped on Yamato tightened, but Nero continued on, “He is your twin, right? Are you sure that’s what he truly feels towards you?”

A shaky breath escaped Vergil’s mouth, trying to find the courage to answer that question. Scooting further to the tree, Vergil dropped his head in defeat “I’m sure… Dante said so himself.”

“Why did he say that?”

“Because we were fighting- Dante wanted to play but I didn’t want to. I wanted to stay at home and read my book because it’s hot outside. But Dante didn’t like that…”

“And, what happened next?”

“I told him to go away and Dante got angry…” Vergil hugged his knees again, mind replaying the scene where he and Dante fought, pushing, kicking and beating each other. Insults thrown at each other in between fist. “He pushed me, so I pushed him back…”

Eyes started to cloud with tears, Vergil hesitated.

“It’s okay. Go on, Vergil.”

“I said mean things to Dante”. The dam broke and Vergil sobbed again. “I- I really didn’t mean it. I just- I want-” 

“Take it slow.”

“I just wanted Dante to stop bothering me for a while! I didn’t mean to say those words.. But Dante he got it all wrong… and- and he- he said he hated me!” Image of Dante’s shocked expression barged into his mind. Dante’s wild blue eyes slowly morphed into cold fury, his expression darkened as he lashed out those words. “I never saw Dante look so angry before. He never-”

A hand reached out to Vergil’s shoulder, Nero slowly pulled Vergil into a hug, saying soothing words as Vergil cried on his chest. A series of apologies came in between sobs and after a moment the crying subsided. Nero took the chance to pull away from the hug, wiping the remaining tears on Vergil's still damp eyes. 

“Are you sure Dante really meant those words?” 

“He must have! He was so angry when he said that!”

“Same to you when you said those mean things to Dante but did you mean it?”

A frown appeared on Vergil’s face, “Of course not! I never meant those words”

“Then what makes you believe what Dante said is true?” 

“Because Dante was so angry when he said that…” Confusion swirled in his head as Vergil tried to make sense of what Nero was saying.

“Exactly.” Nero brushed Vergil hair back to its place. “He was angry, and so do you. And when people are angry, they always say things that they didn’t even mean.”

“What are you trying to say?” 

A gentle smile graced Nero’s features, “What I’m trying to say here is that Dante does not hate you, Vergil. He might be angry at you but he does not mean those words.” 

Vergil blinked once and then twice, trying to digest Nero’s word.  _ Dante does not hate me? _ He thought to himself and it brought a brief relief to his heart before the storm in his mind swirled again, reminding him that even so Dante still had left him behind. 

“Lies!” Vergil’s voice cracked as he succumbed to his twisted thoughts. “If he didn’t hate me, then why did he leave me behind? Why did he abandon me?”

Firmly, Nero held both of Vergil’s arms in an attempt to quell his outburst. “Vergil, listen to me”, He searched for Vergil’s eye and once their gazes were locked, Nero continued. “Why do you think Dante has left you?” 

_ Why?  _ Vergil brows furrowed. His mind scrambling to find the reason. “Because he wasn’t at home when I came back! I waited for him and he didn’t come back at all! If he- if he didn’t-” he started to stutter when he realised something not right with his reasoning. “If he didn’t abandon me then he surely would have come back and waited for me! He should…”

A thought suddenly came to his mind. Mother… Mother must have said something to Dante. As much as a troublemaker Dante was, he always listened to Mother’s order and obeyed. Could the reason why Dante didn’t come back was because of mother’s order? But why? 

At the thought of his mother, Vergil wondered if she had attempted to find him during the attack. She probably managed to save Dante because he was closed by, even told him to run away. And yet, what about him? When Vergil was all alone in that park, he was expecting for his mother to come and pick him up, a routine that they had developed whenever a fight broke off between him and Dante: Dante would stay at home while Vergil would seek sanctuary at the park. And his mother would always come and get him after she had finished consoling his little brother.

But on that day, she didn’t come for him.

In fact, it was those demons that came for him instead.

Doubts started to gnaw within his mind. No, that couldn’t be it.

“Did mother tell Dante to _abandon_ me?”

“Vergil-” Nero called for him again, but Vergil once again fell deep within his dangerous thoughts.

“Is that why Dante left me behind? Because mother told him so? But why? Why would mother do that. Why-”

“Hey, Vergil!” A sudden shake to his body pulled Vergil’s away from his thoughts. Vergil eyes were wide seeing the worried expression on Nero. “Stop! Stop thinking like that, please. Please, please remember how your mother was to you and your brother. Do you really believe that your kind and loving mother would tell one of her sons to abandon the other? Are you sure that’s what your mother wanted?”

The warmth of his mother’s embrace that morning came to his mind like a gentle breeze. She was so happy that morning, she woke them up by tickling them, causing tears in their laughter. She made blueberry and strawberry pancakes for breakfast and Vergil remembered how delicious it was that his mother even offered him more chocolate syrup while she took out more strawberries from the fridge for Dante. Her love for them was genuine, sincere and she always reminded them how she cherished the two of them in her heart. How lucky she was to have them in her life. Vergil knew his mother had been hiding her sadness from them. He had been attentive to his mother’s well being since the first few months of his father’s disappearance, and he noticed whenever he asked about what troubles her, she would always act as if nothing was wrong and instead, asked him what’s on his mind.

So when Nero asked that question, Vergil suddenly realised the flaw of his thoughts. It dawned on him how the trauma from that day, the sadness and the loneliness had wrapped his mind until it distorted his true memories, giving birth to bitter, vile and ruthless thoughts, clouding his mind from seeing the truth.

“No…” His voice was barely above whisper. How could he think about his mother like that? How could he let his memories of his mother be distorted like that? 

“No, she wouldn’t!” Vergil said it loudly, mostly to assure himself more. “Mother loved us both! She never once showed that she preferred any one of us. She loved us equally, she treated us fair and square. Mother always reminded Dante and me that we should always stick together! So, no! Mother would never say that!”

“Yeah, she won’t.” Nero smiled softly at that, eyes content from hearing that. “In fact, I believe she wants the two of you to find each other soon.” 

Nero released his hold on Vergil’s arms, shoulders finally relaxed as he plopped down on the grass, a contented sigh escaped his mouth. “You know, your situation here kinda reminds me of someone I know.”

“Who?”

“My dad and uncle.” Vergil saw the way Nero’s gaze softened. “They were also separated when they were kids. Took them 10 years to find each other though” 

“10 years? That’s so long. Did it go well?” Vergil asked, intrigued.

Nero shook his head. “It didn’t. By the time they met again, they both had different opinions about the world. They got into a fight and things just went down for the worst.”

“What happened next?”

“They went separate ways... My uncle thought that my dad was dead, got really depressed over that and he regretted he didn’t do anything to find him. But fate has its way, and they meet again 20 years later.”

“Did they fight when they met again?” At that innocent question, Nero bursted out laughing.

“They did! Until I had to put some senses into their heads. Seriously, they acted like children!” 

“So did they get back together?” Vergil didn’t know why the story intrigued him and yet here he was wanting to know how the story ended.

“Yup, it took them a while but they finally got back together and put their past aside. Uncle was very happy though when he got to spend time with Dad. And even though Dad didn’t show much, I know he was happy too.” Vergil couldn’t miss the way Nero was grinning to his ears when he told the story. He must have loved them so much.

“I’m happy that your father and uncle found each other again, Nero. They must have a lot to catch up” 

“They do. They have like 30 years of catching up to do but hey they have time. But enough about them, what about you, Vergil?” Vergil tilted his head at Nero’s question. “I bet you don’t want to experience those things my dad and uncle had. So what are you going to do? Wanna go and find Dante?”

Vergil gave a firm nod at the suggestion before adding: “We should. That’s probably what Mother wants too.” 

“I believe so too” Nero patted Vergil’s head and stood up.

“Nero,” A paused, Vergil bit his lower lips, hugging the Yamato. “I’m sorry for my outburst earlier and making you worried... It’s very rude of me to do that”

“It’s okay kid. All things are good. So wanna head back?” Nero held his hand out for Vergil.

And for the first time that day, Vergil finally smiled and reached out to Nero’s outstretched hand. “Yes!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bless Nero for being there and stop Vergil's mind from furthering distorted his memories. 
> 
> anyway, thank you for reading. Hope you all enjoy~
> 
> We finally gonna go find Dante, yay!!


	5. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After so long, they finally found each other again.

“Nero, can you show me the thing you do with your robot arm again? Where you zapped that ant demon back then and made them fly everywhere?” 

Vergil arms flailed wildly trying to describe the action (and trying hard to contain his excitement) to Nero, which caused the young man to stifle his laughter seeing how cute the action was. (Nero won’t say it out loud since that would fluster the boy and Vergil would strongly refute the idea that he was cute).

It had been 2 weeks since Vergil had come to terms with the truth, that neither his mother nor his brother had abandoned him. He was so overcome with grief and trauma that his memories towards them were distorted. If it was not for Nero’s firm assurance that acted as an anchor, Vergil would probably have fallen deeper in his twisted thoughts, corrupting further his memories of the two people that he loved very dearly. Guilt gnawed on his heart for even daring to think like that towards them, he wished that his kind mother would forgive him for his foolishness.

“You wanna see it? Sure! But we need to find something that can bounce back from the shock…” Nero looked around his surroundings, a playful smirk appeared as another empusas and hell cainas came out from the woods. “So, which one of these demons would you like me to blast?”

A playful glint reflected on Vergil's eyes as he unsheathed Yamato from her scabbard. He pointed the Katana to a lone empusa by his right side. “That one!” 

“Really? That’s going to be easy. At least choose one that is more challenging than that.”

Hearing that complaint from Nero, Vergil rolled his eyes and then scanned the area once more. Further away from where they stood, Vergil spotted a hooded demon carrying two large cleavers running frantically towards them. From the look of it, that could pose a lot of challenge than the rest of the demons here. “Well, how about that hunchback looking demon?”

Nero eyes narrowed at that demon who was getting closer to them. “Hell Antenora… what a pain.” He hissed to himself before he turned to meet Vergil’s expectant gaze, “Now that’s what we’re talking!”

With speed like a bullet, Nero dashed forward, killing the small demons on his way with a huge swing of his mechanical sword which he called Red Queen. The demons screamed as they turned to dust, but Nero paid them no mind as his eyes had set on that crazed demon in front of him. The hunchback demon raised its cleavers, ready to strike them down but Nero was way faster than that- He blasted the demon with sparks of electricity, sending the demon flying to the back and crashed to a nearby tree. 

“Yo, Vergil! Did you see that?”

Vergil nodded excitedly causing Nero to scratch his nose. And that was when a hell caina appeared from behind, bringing its blade behind Nero’s back.

“Nero, look out-” 

Swiftly, Nero spun around and shot the demon in the head before the demon managed to strike. The demon staggered and Nero took the opportunity to bring his sword out, revved it out a little which sparked some fire and struck its head, until it detached from the body and rolled down on the ground. By the time the Hell Caina had disintegrated to duse, the Antonera was back on its feet going full berserk mode.

A sudden chill on his back pulled Vergil’s attention away from Nero. Behind him, there were three Empusas making its way towards him. They were nearing closer, hissing at him as if they had found its meal for the day. Vergil scoffed at those three demons, his hand gripped the Yamato tightly, letting her channel her power through him. With Yamato as his guide, Vergil raised his sword and went in for attack. 

Such was their routine for the past 2 weeks ever since they decided on a quest to find Dante. They would move from one small town to another, tracking his brother's scent. Dante scent was a bit hard to detect at first, since it was buried amongst those demons' foul stench that always interrupted them with their search. They always appeared when the two of them were on the move, and everytime it happened, Nero would easily slay them all with his wide range of weapons. And Vergil couldn’t deny that he was in awe watching Nero in action. 

Nero would always tell Vergil to stand back and wait till everything had been cleared out but sometimes Vergil too stepped into the fray. With the help of Yamato as his guide and his newly awakened demon power, Vergil managed to kill off a few lesser demons on his own and Nero would praise him for it, applauding him for his skills in wielding the Katana. And slowly Vergil learnt to properly use his power and helped out Nero when necessary. Despite that, Nero had reminded him to not strain his body too much as he was still growing but Nero never stopped him from joining the fight and instead chose to rely on him. 

The two fought side by side and they made such a powerful team. Dante would surely love to join in too and they would make an indestructible trio! All of this fighting made Vergil miss his little brother more and he was determined to find Dante no matter what. 

* * *

“Hey Vergil, what else can you do with Yamato?” They were by the lake one afternoon, eating burgers for dinner when Nero had asked Vergil that question.

Swallowing his food down, Vergil furrowed his brows to think. “Emm.. I know how to make a swift slice with minimal movement, and Yamato taught me how to balance our power… other than that… I’m not sure?” He munched the burger slowly.

“Is that so..” Nero took the last bite of his burger before he stood up, wiping the remaining grease on his hand with the paper towel before throwing it to the nearby trash can. Then he gestured his head towards the sword. “Do you know she can do more than just a strike?”

“Really? Wait, how did you know that?” 

“Erm… I read a book about her in Fortuna. Yes, in Fortuna- They have a lot of information about Sparda, especially about his devil’s arms… yes, that’s how I know about Yamato-, erm..” Nero started to mumble all of the sudden as if covering for something, but Vergil was more interested in what Yamato could do. 

“Can you tell me more?” Vergil’s eyes shone brightly.

“Yeah, sure! She can do lots of cool moves tho”

“Really? Can you teach me?!”

Shyly, Nero looked away, scratching his nose again. “I’m not sure if I’m skilled enough to teach you- And I never got the chance to practice it since Yamato is in your family possession… and I only read from books-”

“It’s okay. I can lend you Yamato for you to show us.” Vergil suggested.

“You sure?” Nero asked out of surprise and Vergil nodded with a distinct ‘eeyup’ as he handed Yamato to him. “If you don’t mind, I would love to” 

It took Nero a moment for him to finally get out of his surprised state. Vergil observed how he carefully reached for the sword, acted as if he was scared to break it. Once Nero’s hand closed around the pommel, Vergil could hear a soft humming coming from Yamato, indicating she was happy for reasons Vergil couldn’t grasp.

It didn’t escape Vergil that Nero’s expression turned solemn when he brought the sword close to him. Nero’s eyes shut as he took a lungful of air, and when he opened his eyes, the sadness was gone and replaced with a cheerful gaze.

“Watch and learn, kid!”

* * *

Vergil learned a lot about Nero during their time together.

Apparently Nero grew up in an orphanage, not knowing who his parents were as he was said to be left by the orphanage door when he was still a baby. He grew up with his best friend, a girl named Kyrie and her brother, Credo before her family decided to foster him. Vergil could see the way Nero’s eyes sparkled when he talked about her, just like how his mother’s eyes were when she talked about his father. 

_Love._ That’s the eyes of someone who is in love, he surmised to himself. 

When Vergil brought up how he knew about his father and uncle, Nero suddenly laughed but it was a strained kind of laughter. He was hesitant at first, not sure how to phrase it, was what he said to him but after a moment Nero sighed a nervous breath (Vergil didn’t know why Nero looked so nervous about it) and said:

“It’s a complicated story though. My uncle found me first and I legit thought that he was my father because we shared the same hair colour and he kinda looks like me, so what else should I think, right? But turns out, he isn’t and my dad is actually his missing brother.”

“Were you mad at your dad?”

“I was. But then I found out that he never knew about me before he went missing…” He paused, his expression softened when he turned to Vergil, “..and how can I stay angry at him when he is so awkward trying to act like a dad.”

Realising how the topic made Nero look a bit sad, Vergil decided to change the topic and talked about anything that piqued his interest: the sword, the gun, Nero’s favourite food, the robot arm that Nero called as the Devil Breaker, who made them and could he try using it. In return, Nero asked him about what kind of activities he and Dante love to do, their sparring session, and even about their daily lives prior to the attack.

It was fun having Nero around. Vergil hardly felt as if he was alone as Nero would always be there for him, asking him about what was bothering him, catering to his childish needs. 

Having Nero by his side, made Vergil feel safe and loved.

* * *

After days of travelling together, the two of them finally arrived at a big industrial city up north of Redgrave. Their search for Dante had led them into this city and Nero pointed out that the demonic aura in this town was low and it would be easier to track Dante down here. 

Feeling a bit famished, they decided to stop by a local diner to have some lunch. Nero ordered some classic cheeseburger with fries, while Vergil ordered fish and chips, with chocolate ice cream for dessert. It’s been awhile since Vergil had an ice cream and he was craving it so bad when he saw it on display.

“Gosh that was so good!” Nero put the glass of soft drink on the table with a click. His plate was empty, clean from any residue. He then saw the distaste look shown on Vergil’s childish face “What?”

“That was disgusting! You don’t even chew properly!” Vergil chastised.

“Hey, I can’t help it. I was hungry and the burger was so good!” He retorted.

“Is that how an adult should show an example to a kid?” 

“Geez, Vergil. You’re still a kid. Loosen it up a little.” Nero stole his chips, rolling his eyes like a kid.

The scowl on Vergil’s face broke into a smirk and he laughed. “You should see how you eat that burger! If mother were to see it, she would have scolded you for breaking the table manners.” 

“Sounds like it happened a lot.”

“It did. Dante was usually the one who got reminded by mother so many times. But he still did it. At one point I was wondering if he deliberately did that so he could let mother coddle him.” 

“What about you? Don’t tell me that you didn’t do it too.” Nero teased.

“No, I- I don’t!” Aghast, Vergil stuttered as Nero raised his eyebrow at him, telling him that he wasn’t buying it. “Fine! I only did it once and that’s because there’s a parade going around the neighbourhood and I didn’t want to miss it!” He pursed his lips as he ate the ice cream.

Upon seeing Vergil’s cute pout, Nero bursted out laughing and after a moment, Vergil joined in too.

Outside of the diner, a pair of eyes was looking intently at them by the window, observing them while they remained oblivious of their surroundings.

The door’s bell chimed, indicating that a guest had entered the Diner. Vergil could hear the voice of the waitress greeting the customer but he didn’t bother to look it up, intent on finishing up his ice cream while Nero’s busy eating Vergil’s chips. 

So as they were enjoying themselves at their little corner, they missed out the way the waitress called out for the guest as they made their way in and headed straight to where Vergil and Nero were seated.

“Son of a bitch. I’ve been looking all over for you, you dumb ass rat!” 

Vergil was startled when a teenage boy grabbed him by his shoulder and pulled him to face towards him. Nero was alarmed as well as he immediately stood up, hands almost reaching out to Blue Rose.

“What’s up with that face?! Don’t act as if you knew nothing,  _ Tony _ !”

It took a lot of will power for Vergil to control his urge to reach out for Yamato and instead he gave the teenager a cold glare. “Who on earth is Tony?” 

“Stop pretending as if you don’t know. Where the fuck is my money?!” The teenager grabbed a fistful of Vergil’s clothes. Nero immediately reached out to the teen’s arm but the teen pulled out a knife with his free hand and pointed it at Nero. “Don't interfere.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Vergil scowled, his hand was dangerously closed to Yamato. From the training he had with Nero, Vergil could use some of her power and conjure a summon sword to act as a warning.

“Don’t give me that bullshit!” He pushed Vergil further as he tackled him and ruffled Vergil’s hair. Nero grabbed the teen’s arm from behind, causing him to drop the knife as Nero pulled him away. The teenager thrashed wildly in Nero’s grasp. “Just because you change your hairstyle, doesn’t mean I don’t know it’s you, Tony!”

_ What? _

Vergil eyes went wild at that statement. He touched his hair, letting the bangs cover his forehead.

“See, I know that’s you!” He pointed in between kicking and pulling Nero’s arm but Nero’s grip was too strong. “Fucking let go of me, you asshole!”

Nero’s eyes were fixed on Vergil as both of them exchanged a bewildered look. There was only one person in this world who would look exactly like him… and that person was none other than his twin, Dante. 

“Wait, are you saying there’s a guy that looks like him named Tony?” Nero held on the teenager loosened, releasing him from his strong grip.

“What are you talking about? Are you saying there’s two of them?!” The teen asked incredulously.

Laughter erupted behind the teen causing them to turn around. Vergil's right hand covered his eyes as he was suddenly hit with amusement. He then slicked his bangs back to its original style.

“What’s so funny?” He glowered at Vergil. 

“I’m sorry but yes, there are two of us.” 

“What bullshit are you saying-”

“I’m Vergil.” Amusement gone in an instant from Vergil’s face as it was replaced with a much colder expression that sent chills out of the teenage spine. “May I know who this Tony you speak off?”

“What? Are you pulling my leg or something?” 

“We’re not, kid.” Having sensed the death glare from Vergil, Nero decided to step in. “Now, I suggest you don’t do anything stupid and answer our question. Who is Tony and where can we find him?” 

The boy glanced at Vergil, finally making the connection “So what? You’re Tony’s twin or something?”

“What does it look like?” Vergil shot back.

“Hey, no fighting inside the diner. You’re disturbing everyone here,” At a corner, the waitress was standing closely to the phone, ready to phone the authorities in case something went wrong. The remaining customers also chance a glance at them, whispering among each other. “Just answer the question, kid” Nero reminded the boy.

“If I tell you who Tony is and where you can find him, are you going to pay the money that he stole from me?” He bargained.

Vergil was about to retort back but Nero held his hand up, stopping him. Nero then searched through his trousers pocket and fished out a £100 bill. “Is this enough?” 

The boy blinked, surprised at the amount “More than enough.” He tried to reach for the bill but Nero quickly took it away.

“Talk then you can get your money.”

The boy gritted his teeth and after a moment he finally spoke of who Tony was. Vergil listened to him attentively, figuring out whether this was a lie or not. Based on what the teen said, Tony was a homeless kid who appeared out of nowhere a few months ago. He didn’t have friends and mostly wandered the street alone. The teen said that Tony usually was caught trying to steal money from the children here but Vergil found it hard to believe that. That teen was clearly lying on that part. And something also seemed odd here, the teen didn’t mention anything about a sword. Rebellion was a huge sword, nobody could not miss it. Unless...

“Tony is always on the move but you can easily find him at the riverbank near the old park down south from here. I don’t know why he goes back there everyday but I think he hid something there. Probably stuff that he stole..”

_ Rebellion. That explains it! _

The teenager didn’t even manage to finish his words when Vergil pushed him aside and dashed outside. He heard Nero cursed under his breath before he too sprinted outside and chased after Vergil. 

_ It’s closed. Dante’s scent… it’s stronger here.  _

Vergil's heart throbbed in his chest from the anticipation and nervousness. They had been separated for months already. Part of him still felt afraid of the idea that Dante could still harbour his hatred on him. But he filed those thoughts away, and continued with his run towards the location. 

Something acidic and rotten overwhelmed his sense the moment he was about to reach the location.  _ Demons-  _ Alarmed, Vergil forced himself to run faster. The pungent scent kept on getting stronger and stronger, making him gripped the Yamato tighter.

When Vergil arrived at the park, he was greeted by a small horde of demons, attacking everything in its path. A memory of that tragedy flashes through his head, of the demon stabbing through his heart. He shook the memories away, breath ragged from the lack of air and he scanned the surrounding area.

And then he saw  _ him. _

Further away from where he stood, surrounded by three hell antenora was a boy with the same height and build as him. The only differences was that the boy held out a big sword twice his size instead of a Katana. His white hair glistened under the afternoon sun.

_ Dante…. _

“Vergil!” Nero finally caught up with Vergil. He drew Red Queen as his took in the surrounding, “Dante’s aura is stronger here-”

“Dante!” Yamato was already out from her sheath as Vergil ran towards Dante. He summoned his spectral sword, and stabbed the demons nearby. Nero too stepped in to kill another demon to his left.

Dante seemed to not have trouble using the rebellion despite her size being twice as big as him. He sliced those three demons surrounding him with ease and then he turned to look to find the source of the voice. 

When their eyes met, Dante froze.

“Vergil!” 

A wide smile appeared on Dante’s face as he wave his hand enthusiastically at Vergil. Vergil wanted to wave back but his eye caught a glimpse of another demon… the same demon that stabbed him back then in the park on that day. 

“Idiot, behind you!” Blood seemed to drain from Vergil’s face as he saw the demon inched closer to Dante, he concentrated his power and moved at very fast speed, withdrawing Yamato and decapitating the demon before it even dared to blink. 

“Wow, that’s so cool Verge!” 

Vergil twirled around to finally look at his little brother. He didn't manage to sheath Yamato when Dante engulfed him in a hug.

“Vergil, you’re alive!” Dante cried… he cried for him. Vergil stood ramrod straight, unable to respond as he was trying to comprehend whether it was a dream or not. “I thought you were dead, like mom… I’m sorry. I’m sorry…” 

Dante mumbles on in between tears and sobs, refusing to let go of the hug. From the corner of his sight, Vergil saw Nero walking closer to them before he stopped a few feet from them, putting Red Queen at behind his back as he had finished killing the last remaining demon. 

The smile on Nero’s face made Vergil finally snap from his trance.

_ This is real. Dante is real.  _

And Vergil too returned the hug, letting go of his tears as he finally found his little brother.

They cried in each other embrace, muttering apologies in between sniffles and sobs. Then Dante was the first to break away from the hug, his eyes red.

“I’m sorry for not waiting for you. I tried to wait but- but the demons- they attacked mom and mom told me to run. I- I don’t- ” 

“Enough, little brother. I know. I forgive you. I’m not mad at all” Vergil wiped the snot on Dante’s face with his sleeves. If it was any other day, he would be grossed out by that but right now, he didn’t care. He was happy that Dante was safe, that Dante was healthy.

“But I said I hate you… I don’t mean to say that. I’m sorry-”

“I know. I know.” He hugged his brother back, consoling him.

“It’s all my fault-”

“Dante, don’t. It’s all in the past now.” Vergil stated. His gazes on Dante were firm. “It’s not any of us fault. So don’t cry okay. I’m here. I’ve found you.”

_ We’re home _

They hugged again once more, letting go of their sadness. And when the tears were all dried up, they reluctantly let go of one another. Vergil wiped his face and Dante’s. They were both a mess and ugly from crying. 

“By the way Dante, did you steal money from kids?”

“What!? Verge, no way. How could you think of me like that?” Dante's stunned face was so funny that Vergil couldn’t maintain his older brother facade and ended up laughing.

“I’m sorry. I was just asking. Some guy came at me and said you stole his money-”

“Wait, you mean you met John? That guy is a liar and a bully! I didn’t steal any of his money!”

“I thought so too.” Vergil blood boiled thinking back how that teenager had lied to his face, even swindling out Nero’s money. He swore that he would make sure that the teenager pay for his lies. “Anyway, let’s go. Nero’s waiting for us and those demons probably on their way here.” Vergil tried to pull his brother away, but Dante didn’t move.

“Who is Nero?”

“He is our distant cousin from Fortuna. And he had been taking care of me for these past few weeks. So, make haste, Dante!” Vergil’s scowl.

“We have a cousin? Wait- wait. Vergil, I need to take some stuff behind that slide. I promise, I’ll make it quick!” With that Dante sprinted over to the slide, ignoring Vergil's protest.

“So, that’s Dante huh?” Nero came from behind him, looking so happy and at peace. 

“Unfortunately, yes” Vergil replied while looking at Dante packing up something.

“I’m glad that the two of you are reunited now.” Nero said before he pulled Vergil to face him as he crouched down to Vergil’s eye level. “Hey, listen to me Vergil: Take care of your twin, alright. Promise me that you will not get separated from one another again. The two of you are like one of a whole, complementing one another. And it means that you are stronger when you are together. No matter what happened in the future, promise me that the two of you will be there for each other.”

“What are you saying, Nero?” Vergil didn’t understand what Nero was implying here. Nero looked happy but a bit sad... Why?

“What I meant is, siblings stay together no matter what the circumstances are. You might fight or find something that you don’t see eye to eye on but don’t let it be a reason to destroy what you have right now. Remember Vergil, Dante loves you. Your mother loved you.. And I love you too. Hold on to that and it will make you stronger.”

With a kiss to Vergil’s forehead, Nero stood up. Vergil wanted to ask more as millions of questions appeared and he didn’t understand why Nero was looking at him with such a solemn expression. But, Dante’s voice broke him out of his stare on Nero, and reluctantly he turned away and watched Dante run towards him and halted, out of breath.

“I’m sorry for making you wait, Verge. I’m all set and ready to go!” Dante gave out a silly grin at Vergil. He had a red backpack with him, probably fill with clothes and all

“Geez, Dante. You know we’re in a hurry!” Vergil reminded me. “Anyway, this is Nero-” Vergil tried to introduce Dante to Nero but when he turned back, Nero wasn’t there.

“Who?” 

Vergil ignored Dante’s question as his eyes searched frantically for Nero but he was nowhere to be sighted.. 

Then further away, he saw Nero’s shadow. “Nero!”

“We’ll meet again, kid!” Nero shouted from the distance. “Remember our promise okay and see you soon!” 

“Nero, wait!” 

Vergil chased over to where Nero was standing. His heart constricted at the thought of Nero not being with them. Nero was a friend, a family, and Vergil didn’t want to lose another one too. 

But by the time Vergil arrived, nobody was there.

Not a shadow, not even a trace of his scent.

Nero was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :')


	6. Journey for Forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wheel of fortune spins for the one who wishes for it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written in Nero's POV

Can you see my heart?   
To me, you are everything.   
I will stay behind you,   
Always one step behind…

***

“Whatever you plan on doing, there will be a price to pay, Nero.”

Nero looked away from the map to the young woman in front of him, dressed in a black blouse designed with intricate embroidery, Nero never seen her wearing this kind of dress before. It was a bit foreign, a traditional dress perhaps? But to see her in this clothes, devoid of life and colour, Nero knew she was mourning for the ones she held dear.

“You won’t tell me the price for this information aren't you, Fay?”

The woman, called Fay, shook her head slowly. “No, because the price is depending on your actions, Nero. Should you only go there to retrieve the relics and destroy it before the demons get hold of it, then the price may not be as steep as what you may think.”

“But?” Nero probed, waiting for Fay to continue with her explanation of this exchange. 

“If you summon the ‘Goddess’ who resides in the relics and wish upon her, then I’m afraid I have no answer to how severe the price would be.” 

Her gazes were solemn when she said that and Nero knew that she was aware of the swirling thoughts in his mind. There’s nothing could be hidden away from her, away from this Room, especially when the knowledge was directly linked to the request he had for her. And yet she said nothing and proceeded to give him what he wanted. 

According to the old legend, the map in his hand had been destroyed thousands of years ago by the people back then who didn’t want anyone, demons included, to find the slumbering ‘Goddess’ said to be imprisoned inside of it or else calamity would befall onto this world. Another legend said it was Sparda who sealed the Goddess in there and the Goddess wasn’t even a holy being, but a denizen of hell. Regardless, the Goddess was meant to be forever hidden. Nobody should know where she was located.

Yet here he was holding the key item that would lead him to the relic. The Prince of Darkness was so desperate to obtain it, causing Nero’s world to be painted with blood and ashes as Mundus razed the whole world with his army in a blind search for her power. 

Such a simple map that cost so many lives of the people he loved.

Nero folded the map and secured it inside of his jacket. If Mundus knew he had the map… No, that demon was probably aware that Nero could obtain it since Nero was the only one who was able to enter The Room. Fay had mentioned once that Mundus tried to seek The Room but The Room had denied his entrance, causing Mundus to go on a fit of rage. It should not be possible that Mundus might have kept his eye on Nero, and Nero might have led him to the Goddess.

But regardless of that possibility, Nero had to do this. 

He would get there before Mundus’ army could and destroyed it in his shitty demon face.

No matter what, he had to obtain it.

As this was the only way to atone for his mistake.

“Well whatever the price may be, It’s not like I have a say in it.” Nero let out a strained laugh. It wasn’t that Nero didn’t know how the Room works. He had learned that his father used to make a deal here before and it had cost him his youth and freedom. All wishes and requests that were made in this Room must be paid with something of an equal value, and the price could be anything as long as it would bring balance to the universe.

Nero knew that very well even before he decided to finally decide to seek her. And with all that’s happening in his world, he didn’t give a damn shit about the price. 

“Thanks for the map and… I guess this is farewell then.” With a click of his boots, Nero turned towards the door. 

“Nero,” Fay called out to him, stopping him in his tracks, “Before you leave this room, can I say something to you as a long time friend?” Nero tilted his head, wondering what she wanted to say. She had already dropped her mask, exposing the sadness that was hidden behind it. “Nero, You don’t have to punish yourself for all of this. This isn’t your fault, we all know that!” 

Nero didn’t know how to respond to her words but he gave her a sincere smile, noting the blue Hydrangea that adorned her tight bun. “Thank you, Fay.” With one last nod to her, Nero exited the room, severing the ties that he had between the Room and his world.

* * *

Nero lost track of how many times he had triggered just so that he could fly and arrived at the destination.

The relic was located somewhere in a temple up in the Alps. Getting there by conventional means was out of the option as the world was swarmed with demons, rendering everything useless as each country collapsed everyday. He couldn’t have walked here with his normal human legs, that would take him months for him to arrive and by the time he did the world might have already been destroyed. He wished he had Yamato with him. At least he could make a portal and teleport himself to the destination without wasting any more of his precious time. But Yamato was no longer here.

And so did her master, Nero’s father.

He clenched his fist hard as he marched forward in this blizzard. He tried not to think of his father’s cold remarks or even his uncle's silly jokes. That would make Nero miss them terribly and he already told himself that he didn’t have the luxury to mourn for them.

The journey to the temple was lonely and dangerous. Demons ambushed him now and then, as they knew that Nero had the key to what their master sought for. And each battle, Nero barely escaped without an injury or two. He tried not to use his Devil Breaker a lot because if he destroyed it then he would never get it to be replaced. 

Nero was alone.

And this loneliness suffocated him.

The blizzard had finally stopped when Nero arrived at the temple. The temple was located inside a cave hidden behind the rocks by the cliffs. It was dangerous to get there as the pathway was slippery and one wrong move would cause you to fall to your demise, making it impossible for anyone to reach it. But it wasn’t a problem for Nero because he could simply materialise his wings and flew to the entrance.

“Now where is that relic…” He mumbled to himself as he scanned the area. Nothing much could be seen other than rocks and dirt. He moved further inside the cave, feeling the edges of the wall for something abnormal. It was when he was halfway through the cave, he felt a strong magical barrier by his left. To the normal eyes, it would appear to be just a normal stone wall. But as Nero gave a closer inspection, he could see the faint sigil of the ward, protecting the relic hidden behind it.

Carefully, Nero brought his right hand towards the ward, hovering just above it and the ward broke, shattering like a glass, revealing what looked like to be a gemstone at the size of his palm. Nero quickly grabbed the stone to see it close.

To think this small stone was the so-called relic that was said to contain the Goddess, Nero wondered what exactly was her power that caused Mundus to be so desperate to retrieve her... 

A high pitch screeching sound and a hiss snapped Nero away from the relic. He clicked his tongue as he realised that those demons had been following him into this cave. If Nero didn’t act fast, this information would surely reach Mundus' ear…

Slipping the stone relic into his pocket, Nero drew out Red Queen. He had no time or mood for silly jabs and taunt. Nero was tired and he wanted this to end soon.

He charged forward with the blade, slicing the demons into ashes. Gunshots reverberated throughout the dark space of the cave sometimes illuminated by Red Queen’s fire. And yet the demons kept on coming, surrounding him inside the cave as he struggled to make sure none of the demons got a hold of the relic.

His footwork was getting sloppier, and his energy drained from fighting the demons to what felt like hours. His wounds were starting to heal slowly and he couldn’t maintain his trigger form for more than a minute.

It was an endless fight.

And Nero was getting overwhelmed.

Every time he revved and swung his sword, Nero hoped that he could hear his uncle stupid taunts. He even expected to hear the hum of Yamato slicing those demons to ashes.

But to Nero’s disappointment, there’s none. 

His heart constricted as the pain inside started to become unbearable. Nero wanted his family back. He longed to fight side by side with his dad and uncle. He would rather endure his dad's harsh criticism than being greeted with silence. 

But Nero could no longer have that.

Dante and Vergil were no longer in this world.

They were gone.

All because of his stupid, selfish act.

If only Nero didn’t act so stubborn and listen to his father that night, if only he acted based on reasons and inot by emotion, blinded by rage and revenge, if only he didn’t be so stupidly careless, none of this would have happened and his family would still be alive right now and the world would not have turned into a literal hell hole!

This was all his fault!

The world crumbled because of him.

And Nero wished he could make things right.

If only he could turn back time and prevent all of this from happening, he would take that chance-

The stone shone brightly in his pocket, snapping Nero out from his self-guilt as its light brightened up the darkness of the cave. IThe light burned the demons into ashes. Before Nero could have comprehended what had happened, a female-like figure appeared right in front of his eyes.

It finally dawned on him that the relic had responded to his plea and summoned the Goddess.

“I am Norn. The Keeper of Fate... Destiny's guide..,” The Goddess spoke behind her closed mouth. As Nero’s sight became clearer, he finally got to take the detail of theThe Goddess or Norn as she called herself. The Goddess looked more like a golden statue, she had some sort of a spin-wheel on the centre of her body and she was actually an amalgamation of numerous female-like sculptures. “Your wish has been heard and as gratitude for breaking my long imprisonment, I shall grant you a chance to escape this path of ruin.”

“Escape?” Nero felt small in the presence of Norn. Was she really a Goddess or a demon? 

“This world is bound to be destroyed shall Mundus manage to find me and make me his pawn. If you wish to prevent this inevitable ruin and save the ones you loved, now is the right time for fate to spin her wheel.” 

_“If you summon the ‘Goddess’ who resides in the relics and wish upon her, then I’m afraid I have no answer to how severe the price would be.”_

Fay’s warning rang through his head. The price for reversing the flow of time, changing the course of destiny would not be as simple as sacrificing all of his fortune. It would be more than just that. Nero understood how his wish could impact the whole world, not just himself. 

However, with the future so bleak and him losing all of his loved ones, all because of his mistake, Nero steeled his resolve of wanting to set things right.

If he had to sacrifice himself for the better future....

If he had to sacrifice himself to atone all of his sins,

Then he shall take it.

Even if it meant his existence in another timeline would cease to exist.

“I sense that you have come to a decision, oh child of Sparda. Then I shall return you to the time where the branches had split, so that you know what needs to be done. But I shall caution you, this shall not come without consequences.” 

The Goddess brought her hand to her centre, turning the wheel that Nero realised was actually a clock. His eyes suddenly felt heavy, and his surroundings started to become blurry. Soon, darkness engulfed him as he drifted in a void of nothingness.

Nero woke up to the smell of wood burning in the air. The sky was red with dark ominous clouds looming above. He tried to observe his surroundings and found himself covered by thick ash. He patted himself as he stood, realising that he had laid on a field of burnt flowers. He picked up a single Lily that was spared from the fire. 

As he turned around to the sound of something crashing to the ground, Nero’s heart stopped.

There, in front of him stood a burnt mansion. Nero heart raced as he knew who this mansion belonged to. He had visited here once with his father, trying to salvage the remaining artifact and documents that were spared from the fire.

But back then, the mansion was half destroyed due to the roots of the Qliphoth tree and the residue of the fire was not that imminent as what he saw at the moment. And Nero was certain that the mansion was surrounded by other houses as it was located in the middle of an abandoned and destroyed neighbourhood, not in the middle of a grassy field.

It was then that it hit him what Norn had meant by ‘branches split’, 

He had returned to the day where it all began

* * *

_Dad. I need to find Dad._

Nero knew of the tale that surrounded the Sparda twins. Knew how the tragedy shaped their livelihood, especially to his father. If Norn sent him here, to the time where the twins’ path diverged, then Nero knew what he must do.

He must find his father and prevent him from falling down to the path of destruction.

For the first few weeks, Nero traced his father’s step. He didn’t know how he could do that but he let his heart guide him and soon on one rainy night, he found him, his father, bloody and bruised and on the run from demons that chased him.

He didn’t think twice of what he was about to do. His heart was screaming for him to save his father. Consequences be damned if this was the only way for him to save his father and prevent the ruin.

It broke Nero’s heart seeing his father so small and scared, clutching to the Yamato for protection. In all of Nero’s life, he never saw his father exuded such vulnerability. 

Cautiously, he made his way to his scared young father. 

_“The truth is... I wanted to be protected and loved…_ _But I was alone. My only choice was to survive.”_

V’s words echoed at the back of Nero’s mind. For the entirety of his father’s life, he had been mostly alone and had to grow up quickly in order to protect himself. All those traumas wrapped his perceptions of humanity, making him reject his human side. And with his obsession of wanting to be powerful, his father had become blinded and succumbed to his demise.

Nero didn’t want that to happen again.

With this one chance, his father won’t have to go through those suffering again.

“Hey, you okay there kid?” Nero slowly approached the young version of his father “Are you hurt? Did the demon hurt you?” He tried to break the invisible wall surrounding his father. After everything that had happened, it wouldn’t be easy for his father to trust anyone, let alone a stranger. But Nero kept on trying, even offering his young father food. It was when Nero mentioned the Yamato, the wall crumbled and his father finally opened up to him. And slowly, yet surely, began to trust Nero.

Nero had vowed to himself, for as long as his father was with him, he would make sure that his father was protected and loved, that Vergil would hold on to his humanity. Nero was aware that the trauma had distorted Vergil’s memories of his mother and Dante, causing him to be stuck in a lie that he was abandoned. Which was why Nero chose to be by his father's side by being his anchor and the voice of reasons. 

And so far things were going quite well. Nero managed to convince his young father to look for Dante and Vergil managed to escape from his own twisted thoughts. 

In each passing day, Vergil started to smile more as they laughed, ate, cooked and spar together. It’s very fulfilling to see the younger version of his father to finally be able to live as happy as a kid. 

Vergil deserved that chance to experience that.

On that fateful day, Vergil had asked Nero who he was. Part of him wanted to tell Vergil that he is his son from the future. But Nero couldn't tell that. There were a lot of things that Nero wanted to tell his father but for the sake of this new future, Nero had to refrain himself from doing so.

He had to. 

As this was the only way for Nero to seek forgiveness from his father, his uncle, and everyone he had failed.

He wouldn’t dare to screw the chance he had given.

All of this was for them and Nero didn’t mind sacrificing himself as long as his family could be happy. 

They deserve this future.

But even so, part of him wished that he could still have a place in this timeline. He didn’t know what the actual price for his mendling would cost him. He might cease to exist, disappear without a trace. He was fine with it, initially but as he spent more time with the younger version of his father, Nero realised he didn’t want to leave.

But he must go sooner or later as he wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place. So to ease his heart, Nero sometimes mentioned Fortuna in their conversation, hoping that one day his father would go there and secure his existence.

It was a wishful thinking though. He didn’t know if the universe would allow it considering how he had changed the course of destiny by reuniting the twins, ultimately changing their fate.

His father and uncle looked so cute when they were young as they cried in each other's embrace. Nero watched by the sidelines, not sure if he should interrupt the siblings reunion. He reached out to hold his pendant, a gesture that symbolizes contentment and gratitude, given to him by Kyrie. He missed her so bad and wished that she could be here with him. But that was just only a dream.

He gazed down to look at the ring on his finger and that was when he noticed how he could _see_ _through his hands_.

It’s time. He had accomplished his goal by reuniting the twins, he had no purpose to be here any longer. Strange Nero didn’t feel scared at the thought of disappearing. He glanced back towards the twin, smiling as he saw his father wiping his little brother’s tears. The twins should be fine on their own as they had each other to rely on. Nero wanted to meet Dante though, but he believed that would be too much from what he had bargained for and seeing them like this was already enough.

When Dante went to retrieve his belongings, Nero stood by Vergil’s side and told him to always stay together with his little brother. The way his father stared at him in confusion almost made Nero unable to withhold the emotion within him. So in order to quell the sadness away, he gave a kiss on his father’s forehead and mustered a genuine smile. 

He took the opportunity to quietly leave when Dante called out for his father’s attention. Nero couldn’t stay there much longer, he was about to disappear soon and he would not do it in front of his father. That would be too cruel for them both. 

As he walked away from the park, Nero could hear his father calling out to him.

He couldn’t stop now nor should he look back, so with his back to his father, he bid farewell and continued walking forward,

Ignoring his father's childlike plea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 more chapter to go. Oh god, I can't believe this XD
> 
> Anyway, for further information:  
> 1) Fay is my OC that I have since last year, being kept away in my head. She's the current Guardian of The Room and does not originated from Nero's world.  
> 2) The Room's lore: The Room is like a multidimensional space that exist in between worlds. It acted as a gate that prevents people or otherworldly being jumping from one world to the other. But, it's also can be a place for someone to seek something that can't be obtain from their world. Only selected people can visit The Room and it's Fay's duty to attend to these people request on behest of The Room. But Fay has no way of controlling the price of each request/wishes.  
> 3) Norn is based from Shin Megami Tensei. She's also part of the Norse Mythology and was said to be female beings who rule the destiny of gods and men.


	7. Nero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They found each other once, and they will find one another again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternative title: Epilogue or Finding Nero

“Nero?!”

Vergil searched the entire area of the park. His heart was racing as panic surged through him.

“Nero!” He shouted for Nero’s name again and again, until his throat felt dry and hoarse. Tears started to swell in his eyes as everywhere he looked, Nero wasn’t there. He couldn’t even track his scent or anything. It was as if Nero didn’t even exist.

“Nero, where are you?” Vergil slumped forward to the ground, hot tears threatening to stain his cheeks again. Nero had told him that he would stay by his side, but why… Why did he disappear? Where did he go?

“Verg!” Dante wheezed as he finally caught on to his brother. “Wait up! Seriously, where are you going?”

“Nero-” Vergil turned to his brother, “He’s gone! He was here but then he is gone- Dante did you see where he went? We need to find him! He can’t just... disappear like that!”

“Verge, wait. Who is this Nero you are talking about?”

“Didn’t I tell you he is our cousin and I came here looking for you with him?” Vergil glared at his brother, he couldn’t believe how easily his little brother could forget the things that he told him earlier.

“Yeah you did but,” Dante paused and bit his lips. “I didn’t see you come here with anyone.”

Vergil's eyes widened and he immediately stood up facing Dante. “Nonsense! He was with me when you picked up your stuff.”

Dante went quiet for a moment as he stared at Vergil’s alarmed expression. He swallowed a gulp and carefully asked: “Vergil, are you sure you’re not imagining things? You’re mostly alone-”

“What do you mean little brother?” Vergil hand gripped tightly around Yamato

“Well… When I was packing up my stuff, I saw you were talking to yourself… I don’t see anyone around you so I thought you were talking to Yamato…” Dante trailed off but Vergil's expression seemed blank.

“That’s impossible!” He backed away, horrified. “Nero was right beside me- Are you trying to trick me, Dante? This is not the time for that!”

“I’m not! Vergil, you are scaring me! There’s no one there, I swear! Why would I lie to you about this?!” Dante seemed hurt from that accusation.

“No… that can't be right.” The world suddenly felt so small despite them being out in the open. Vergil felt his heart about to burst.

Sensing something wrong with his brother, Dante gripped his brother’s shoulder. “Verge, are you okay?” Not receiving a response, Dante turned to Yamato. “Hey, Yamato. Is Vergil okay?”

The Katana responded by emitting a soft blue glow. A humm could be heard from the katana but Dante was unable to understand it yet. However, the humm managed to calm Vergil down a bit and soon he blinked, and took his breaths.

Yamato told Vergil that there could be something preventing Dante from seeing Nero as the young master was genuinely worried when he asked that. And that was when Vergil realised that he had scared his little brother with his mild outburst. He had never seen Dante wear such a worried expression on him.

“I’m sorry for doubting you, little brother.” His voice was low “But, Nero was there with me.. He did-”

“Hey Vergil, I’m not accusing you of lying you know. But it’s true, I don’t see anyone other than you back then.” Dante paused and then he gave out a huge grin. “Maybe I was so happy to see you again that my eyes only focus on you, Verge.”

And that caused Vergil to burst out laughing. “That’s so you, little brother.”

“Right?” The twins laughed for a while and when their laughter subsided, Dante's tone was serious. “Don’t worry, Verge. We will find him, together.” A soft smile graced Vergil’s feature as he nodded at Dante’s suggestion. “Then once we find him, we can beat the shit out of him for leaving just like that!”

“Dante!” Vergil scolded but he wasn’t even angry or anything.

Dante then closed the gap between them, hugging his brother. “Thanks for finding me, brother.”

Vergil relaxed and returned the hug “Yeah, you too little brother.”

They broke away from the hug and immediately left the park before more demons arrived and found them. At the same time, they decided to search for Nero together. They didn’t have any specific destination to go in mind as they let their heart guide them to somewhere safe. Demons attacked them wherever they went but all of them met their demise at the twins' hands. They were a force to be reckoned with and not many evil adults dared to disturb them. (They were all scared of Vergil though. Vergil just shoot them his infamous glare and those bad people scrambled like a dog with its tail between its legs)

Along the way, they met with various kind people willing to help them with food and shelter. But everytime the twins accepted the offer, demons would come and attack them a few days later, making them feel guilty at the destruction it caused. Even though none of them blamed the twins, the twins knew why the attack happened, and with a heavy heart, the twins had to leave.

It was snowing heavily when the twins sought shelter at the back of someone’s house. Normally, the twins weren't really that affected by the cold since their bodies were warm enough to act as an insulation. But on that day, the weather seemed to be much colder than the previous years and the twins were shaking from the cold. They sat side by side, hugging each other with a blanket they found somewhere at the Recycle Area nearby. Their plan to travel to the south had to be postponed since the snow had caused the whole town to be on standstill and being out in the blizzard during this time was a suicide. Who knew what kind of strong demons lurked behind the snowstorm. The twins may be strong enough to fend for themselves but they were still not strong enough to fight stronger demons. Vergil could fight them off but that would be risky with his small body and Dante hadn’t even awakened to his full demonic strength yet, so it was decided that it was better to avoid the risk and wait for the storm to die down.

The backdoor of the house opened, causing the twins to stay awake and alert. They both stared at the door until an old woman came out, holding a bag full of trash. And then their eyes met.

“What are you kids doing behind my house at this hour?” The woman asked. “Aren’t you kids cold sitting there? Come inside. The storm isn’t going to end anytime soon.”

Vergil and Dante looked at each other, unsure of what to do with the offer. They already made a vow to not burden other people with their circumstances, experiences had taught them that it would end badly with demons hot on their tail.

The old woman seemed to understand their conflicting thoughts and said, “Come on kids, get inside. I’m not going to bite.” Her eyes then landed on Dante, who was clutching to his brother’s back “Your brother looks very pale there. I suggest you get inside quick before any of you die from the cold”

Vergil nodded as he realised what the woman said was true: Dante looked a lot worse than before. Carefully he carried Dante into the house. The old woman guided them into a spare bedroom and immediately Dante laid on the bed, hoarding the blanket while muttering “Cold”.

The woman smiled and went to the kitchen to grab them a warm drink. She gave them each a hot chocolate drink, which both of them were eager to accept. Dante drank it quickly, leaving chocolate stains at his cheeks. Vergil stared at him in disbelief and turned to the old woman to express his gratitude. The old woman, named Nell, just waved her hand, telling them that was nothing before she left them to sleep for the night.

They stayed for another few days as the snowstorm still hadn’t subsided and during their stay, they got closer to Nell. She asked them about their circumstances and without telling much, Vergil told her that they were orphans who were running away from the so-called social service. Nell raised both of her eyebrows as she listened to that and Vergil knew she wasn’t convinced with the whole story, but she left it at that.

On the last day of their stay, as the storm was finally over, the twins were getting ready to leave. Dante was sulking at his brother as he told him that he didn’t want to leave. But Vergil reminded him that they didn’t have the luxury to stay, that they were only going to put Nell in danger. So in the end, Dante had to agree.

As the twins headed for the living room to say their goodbye, Nell was already there waiting for them. Vergil thought she was going to bid them farewell but instead she stopped in front of them and crouched down to their eye level, offering them a place to stay once again. Of course, Vergil turned down her offer, telling her that they didn’t want to overstay their welcome. In truth though, Vergil didn’t want to put Nell in any sort of danger.

Nell seemed to expect that answer and before Vergil could refute further, she told the twins to follow her to the basement. The twins followed her, wondering what she wanted to show them. Once they arrived at the basement, the twins were in awe seeing the large collection of weapons.

Nell pulled out her long shotgun and with so much pride in her voice, she introduced the twins to her workstation and informed them that she was a former demon hunter, and currently worked as a gunsmith. She showed the twins the weapons that she made, and Dante's eyes sparkled at the twin guns she was currently working on.

Nell extended her offer again, telling them that she knew that they were not running away from social service, but from demons. She didn’t ask why demons were chasing after them but she assured them that they would be a lot safer in her home than outside. Plus, she had her weapons at her disposal so they didn’t have to worry.

Vergil was conflicted, he really didn’t want to burden anyone else with their problem and he still wanted to find Nero. It had been 6 months since Nero had disappeared and Vergil still couldn’t find any clue to his whereabouts. What frustrated him the most was that Nero’s face started to get blurry in his mind and he really didn’t want to forget him. Sensing his turmoil, Dante tried to reassure his brother that it would be okay, and after much push from both Nell and Dante, Vergil finally relented and decided to stay. To be honest, Vergil actually really liked staying here with Nell.

Years went by and the twins grew up together with Nell as their mentor. Nell taught them both how to use a gun but Vergil preferred using his katana over firearms. So when Nell asked him if he would like a gun custom made for him, Vergil declined that offer and said Dante would really appreciate that offer more compared to him. Nell even introduced them to demon hunting jobs and when the twins were 16 years old, they got their first gig and their first mission was a success.

However, when the twins just reached 18, a second tragedy struck their peaceful life: Nell Goldstein was murdered. It happened when both Dante and Vergil were away for a gig outside of town. When the twins came back to their home, they saw Nell sprawled behind her workstation, covered in her blood. The images of their mother’s dead body flashed through Vergil’s head as he assumed this was another demon attack. But then Dante told him it wasn't the demon who did this to Nell, it was humans…

* * *

After Nell’s death, the twins started to go their separate ways. Dante had expressed his interest in building his own demon hunting business. It was something that he always wanted to do and Nell was very supportive of that idea, so to honour her, he used most of his savings from his work to establish his business. The twins shared the business ownership together but a month later, Vergil suddenly told Dante that he wanted to leave to pursue his own goal. Ever since Nell’s death, Vergil felt that his strength was inadequate and he needed to learn more about his heritage. He did talk about it with Dante, but Dante didn’t seem to share the same interest as him. Plus, Vergil still wanted to find Nero…

“You wanna do your thing? Sure, I’m not stopping ya, Verge. We’re grown ups now. We both can take care of each other on our own. So no need to worry yourself on your baby brother here. And hey, there’s no harm in being separated for a while, right?” Dante had said on one evening as he stood next to the pool table in his new office. Vergil didn’t know why his brother had bought that thing. For him it was a waste of money but who was he to judge the way his little brother spent his money. As long as Dante paid his bills on time, it shouldn't matter that much… right?

“I do hope by the time I come back, the office should be clean as I have left it.”

“Pfft. Come on, Verge. You think I don't know how to keep my place clean?”

“I don’t know little brother, you tell me then.”

“Whatever, Verge” Dante rolled his eyes as he shot the ball. “So, where are you going then?”

Vergil’s lips curl upwards, “Fortuna.”

* * *

There were three things Vergil didn’t expect when he arrived at Fortuna:

 **One** , nobody in Fortuna seemed to know anything about Nero. It was like Nero didn’t even live there. Vergil tried asking around town despite the cold reception he received from the people. He even visited the only orphanage on the island to ask about Nero. He tried to describe Nero as best as his memory allowed him to. It’s been 10 years and Nero’s image kept on slipping away from his mind. He couldn’t even recall how Nero looked like anymore. To his disappointment, nobody seemed to know anyone with a white hair and robotic arm. The orphanage denied ever receiving a baby with white hair 20 years back. They kept a record for every orphan staying there for decades and none fit Vergil’s description. To the people of Fortuna, the only one who fit that description was none other than their Saviour.

Which brought him to surprise **no. 2** : The Saviour. Nothing could have prepared Vergil from knowing that his Father, Sparda, used to be a Lord who founded and ruled over this island hundreds of years ago and established the Order, and was now revered as a God or Saviour to the people of Fortuna. When he learned about that, Vergil didn’t know whether to be amazed, or amused or feel disgusted at the twisted belief the Order had towards his father. He found the order to be more of a cult than a religion who blindly worship his father with pretentious ideals that he knew his father wouldn’t ever agree with in the first place.

Their blind devotion and hidden agendas irked Vergil and as much as he wanted to leave this island, he had to stay as this island contained a lot of secrets about his father and his power. He told Dante over a phone call that cost him a dime, that he would be staying there for a while to investigate further, to which Dante easily shrugged him off saying: _“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, you do you brother.”_ , before reminding him to always keep in touch, which Vergil was planning to do by sending him a letter every once a month.

Vergil spent most of his time on the island investigating his father by ~~breaking,~~ _visiting_ the Fortuna Archive every night at the Order HQ and _borrowed_ ~~(not steal)~~ historical books and tomes from the library. He even went to investigate Fortuna Castle, said to be his father's former residence and to his surprise, encountered a secret room which he assumed was his father's studies. The secret room was hidden by a strong barrier only Sparda and his descendents could unlock and Vergil stayed there for days studying and researching the tome left behind.

Vergil thought his break ins to the Fortuna Archive was discreet enough from others to know, which brought him to the **third and final** surprise: Never had Vergil expected that he would _fall in love_ and _get married_ when he decided to come to this island. It all started when _she_ caught Vergil sneaking around (Strolling, not sneaking as he corrected her) the archive on one peaceful evening. At first Vergil planned to ignore her, even tried to intimidate her so she would leave him alone out of fear, but soon Vergil found that none of his attempts worked since she was equally as stubborn as him and was very persistent to assist him.

When asked why she would assist him in his quest, her answer was simple: “Why not? It’s not like everyday you have someone manage to break into the archive.”

“Aren’t you going to report me then?”

“No.” She answered, eyes blank as she stared towards him. “The archive contains a lot of secrets that the Order doesn’t want the public to know. Secrets about the world outside, secrets about the Saviour and the records of his life away from this island. All of it is kept here.”

“Then why are you letting me, an outsider, going through all of these secrets?”

“Because you’re not an outsider.”she said, deadpanned. “ You have all the right to know the secrets in this archive”

Vergil was slightly taken aback from her words before he steeled himself. “You are a witch?”

She snorted, “No! I just put two and two together and it’s kinda very obvious, nobody on earth has silver white hair like you! The only one who has it was Sparda, but even that the public isn't even sure whether it is true or not. They thought it was just a rumor, but it’s true. It’s stated in one of the books here.”

“And you have read it all.”

“Yes.” She confirmed, “Plus your reaction kinda answers my suspicions though.”

Vergil was gobsmacked when she pointed that out and silently cursed himself for not wearing that god awful cowl. He thought by coming here during the night, nobody would even be here but here he was, caught red-handed by a girl who he seriously wasn't aware of her coming at all (He was so engrossed with his research though). Frowning to himself, Vergil had to act quick in order to keep his identity a secret. But as he probed her more, he realised that she was just making an innocent educated guess and assumed he was somehow related to Sparda. He didn’t deny nor confirm her claim, but he acknowledged her intelligence and the sharpness of her mind.

So they struck a deal: She would help him out retrieving the tomes that were relevant to his research from the restricted section, and in exchange he would tell her about the outside world. Such an odd deal from a peculiar girl.

And that was the beginning of their strange partnership. And soon it blossomed into something more as they were pulled closer by the attraction and curiosity they had towards each other.

* * *

When Dante received a letter from Vergil, he choked on his pizza and had to reread the contents again and again. The only thing he felt when the words finally sank in was the feeling of an intense _betrayal_.

Vergil got married.

And he didn’t even bother to invite his brother to his wedding.

his twin brother... his other self…

Dante swore he would not hesitate to shoot his brother straight in the face if he ever dared to come back home!

* * *

It was late in summer when Temen-ni-gru was raised in the middle of the city by Arkham.

Vergil knew Arkham was bad news the moment he came to him and his brother, claiming that he knew how to retrieve their father’s power back to them.

It’s tempting, Vergil wasn’t going to lie about that. He needed more power as he had a _family_ to look after and protect. But Vergil and Dante were not a fool. They knew that Arkham wanted to use them. Of course, they declined but Arkham was a cunning bitch. Even without them, he managed to raise that tower, in a city where his family was staying. Arkham gave them no choice but to go there, knowing fully well that it was a trap.

Arkham thought he had the upper hand towards the twin but he was so wrong and such a fool. He shouldn’t have threatened the Dark Slayer’s family and Arkham realised that too late when the blade of the Yamato sliced through his throat in a fluid motion, leaving him bleeding to his death.

Vergil was on the edge of the waterfall, Force Edge in hand. Below was hell, his father’s former home. He stood there, eyes on the abyss. His father’s power was in his hand now but he felt nothing. Dante’s grip on his shoulder snapped him from his musing, and without ever turning back he followed Dante and escaped the portal before the tower collapsed.

* * *

Few days after Temen-ni-gru, a miracle happened at a small apartment of his home.

For the whole day, Vergil was restless. He kept on pacing back and forth at the living room, earning him a scolding from his little brother. He was supposed to be in their bedroom, right by her side, but due to his incessant probing and worrying, the midwives threw him out of the room.

“You’re stressing out both the mother and the child! I’m sorry, but please wait outside.” The door slammed shut right in front of his face, causing Dante to laugh at his brother before he was stabbed by Vergil’s summon sword.

The rest of the hours felt like a torture, waiting for that one cry of life.

And when the screams were replaced by a soft crying of a newborn babe, Vergil ran towards the door feeling as if he was on cloud nine.

He couldn’t stop himself staring in wonder at how small and delicate his son was. His son had his hair but his nose and eyes were just like her. She cooed at her son as she breastfed their child, her eyes tired but he could still see the spark of joy in her eyes.

“So, what shall we name our son?” She rested her head on his shoulder as Vergil held her close.

He gingerly touched his son’s hair, marveling at how soft his son’s hair was as he closed his eyes. His mind drifted to the man who had saved him a decade ago. After so many years, Vergil still couldn't find Nero. It was like Nero was gone from this world without a trace. Vergil may not be able to recall Nero’s face anymore, but that didn’t mean he would give up on the memories they shared together. So to honour the memories of the man who went all out for him, Vergil had decided:

“Nero.” Vergil said softly, “His name will be Nero.”

“Nero? Nero… Nero!” she repeated, as if testing the strength of the name in her tongue. “It’s beautiful. I like how strong ‘Nero’ sounds.” Her gaze softened as she leaned down to her son’s ear and whispered softly, “Our dear son Nero, may you grow up to be as charming and strong like your father.”

* * *

20 years had passed and Nero had grown into a capable fighter and a fine young man.

Ever since he was a little boy, Vergil had taught him about his heritage and even trained him to the art of combat. For Vergil, all of this was important to his child because he wanted Nero to be always ready for any kind of situation. Vergil knew he was strong enough to protect his family but the trauma of the past still linger, waking him up at the dead of the night.

It took time for Vergil to finally allow Nero to join him on his demon hunting jobs. Dante had once told him that he was being overly protective towards Nero, and that could cause Nero to think that his father didn’t trust him at all, causing the kid to have trust issues. It wasn’t like Vergil didn’t trust his son’s ability, he was just worried of the thought of his son getting hurt. Plus, Nero so far hadn’t shown any major demonic trait and that concerned him a little. So when Nero’s right arm changed to look like a demonic arm, Vergil was elated. Even though it was a partial trigger, it was enough to lift up some of the worries in his heart.

The two father and son were currently resting on a field of grassy plain, at the outskirts of the city. The local sheriff at the town had called them in earlier on, asking for their assistance to fight the demons terrorizing the neighbourhood there. The payment was good, enough to split it into three (Vergil sometimes left out a portion of his payment to Dante even though he didn’t take the job. No, he wasn’t taking care of his little brother. It’s nothing like that).

“I’m beat.” Nero laid next to him, looking at the blue sky above. “Dad, can you just portal me back home? I want to sleep on my bed.”

“Then who is going to return the vehicle?”

“You?” Nero gave his childish smirk.

“No. You’re driving it.” Vergil said as he scanned the surrounding area. He didn’t hear his son complaining next to him as Vergil suddenly felt as if he had been here before in the past. No, not felt. He was certain that he had been here before when he was a kid, and with the other Nero.

Realising that his father had ignored him, Nero stood up and went to the centre of the field, practicing his sword fighting stance. Vergil eyed his son's movements with the sword and a memory of the past gently passed through him. He recalled back to his sparring session with the other Nero, how the man taught him how to properly use Yamato’s power and showed him some of her cool moves. Vergil remembered clearly the way that man wielded his own sword, how he handled his gun and even using his spectral arm. It was kind of similar to the way his son was doing…

_Wait._

Vergil suddenly froze as his memories about that man started to get clearer.

His son’s voice, the way his son stood and presented himself, the way his son scratched his nose when he was flustered or shy. The way his son’s talk and smile, the way his brows knitted when he was deep in thoughts. His expression… his face… were all awfully similar to that man.

_Impossible._

There was once a tome he found, in his father’s study in Fortuna Castle. It told the secret of time manipulation, how a person or demon, if obtained that source of power, could manipulate time and space, whether to travel back in time or even to the future. A magic so powerful that it had to be sealed away from the prying eyes. The tome warned, if the source of that magic was ever to be found and used, a calamity would strike to the user and to the world.

 _No, that can’t be right_.

Vergil rose from his seat on the ground, beads of sweats from the summer heat covered his forehead. If that man... if the Nero back then was indeed _his son from the future_ , then what could have possibly caused his son to be transported to the past? Did something happen in that other timeline?

The night of that fateful encounter played in his mind. And with each step he took towards his son, he realised the meaning behind the other Nero’s words:

_“You know Yamato?”_

_“Ermm…” The man rubbed his neck with his free arm, “I used to know the owner of the sword-”_

The owner was him. Not Sparda but _him._

When the other Nero showed his younger self one of Yamato’s moves, Did Nero really learn it from a book that he read in Fortuna or did Nero learn it from his other self? When the other Nero talked about his father and uncle, did he actually mean him and Dante? But in Nero’s story, he and Dante were not on a good term after being separated for so many years, and from the sound of it something bad had happened to him.

Was that the reason why Nero came to the past? To ensure his father and uncle remained together?

Vergil could only guess. He might be over analyzing the whole encounter or he might be right. Unfortunately for him, he would never get the answer to his questions as despite the man and his son being the same person, they were not from the same timeline.

And as he got closer and closer to his son, his heart was aching in pain from thinking of the sacrifice and the risk his son had to take in order for him to obtain this present.

“Ah Dad! Wanna do some sparring- Dad?” Nero was very much alarmed when Vergil stopped right in front of him. “Dad, are you okay? Is there anything wrong, dad?”

Vergil shook his head. They were very much alike with the way they show their concern for their loved ones, always putting others first instead of themselves. Even their hairstyles were the same. Of course it would be the same. They were both Nero, his son.

Nero was clearly confused as he watched his father's sudden strange behaviour. Then after a quiet minute, Vergil slowly reached out to his son and pulled him into a hug.

“Thank you, Nero.” Vergil said in after a moment of silence.

“Emm, for what dad?” Nero asked as he awkwardly returned the hug.

“For everything. Thank you.”

“Okay…” Nero nodded even though he didn’t quite get what his father was talking about.

Vergil held his son tightly in his embrace. He didn’t mind that Nero didn’t understand what he meant. For him, this was enough. Regardless of which version he met, they were all the same.

They were all his son and he finally found Nero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god!!! I did it! I finished the story!!!!
> 
> First of all, thank you so much for reading this story. I didn't expect it will attract a lot of people to read it but I do hope you guys enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing this down ☺️. I appreciative every kudos and comments that I've received and really those kinda what motivated me to actually finish this lol
> 
> I know there were few things left unanswered like how did Nero get a house in the beginning of the chapter or something. I wanted to address that but somehow along the way i forgot.....  
> So if you guys have anything to ask you can ask at the comment section below or you can hit at my [Tumblr blog](https://shirayuukii.tumblr.com/)
> 
> again thank you! I hope you all have a good day and stay safe!


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